BLOCKED PAVEMENTS (23 february 2004)
On motorways, motorists are often protected from cars coming from the opposite direction by means of crash barriers.
Until recently, cyclists in Amsterdam were protected from the cars that were using the same road by means of a cycling lane ... painted on the side of the road.
Knowing the shortage of parking places in Amsterdam, you can imagine that such painted paths are frequently used as alternative parking places by the antisocial community (if ever there was a contradiction in terms!).
During the last decade, however, the realization has grown that with such a large number of cyclists, there should be more cycling-paths in Amsterdam. So indeed, here and there we have been seeing more and more real cycling facilities in the streets of this great city.
But these cycling paths take up space, which inevitably must be taken away from either pedestrians or motorists.
Well, to make a long story short, recently many pavements have been made a lot narrower in Amsterdam. After all, most people's bodies are no wider than twenty inches. 'So aren't one or two yards ample space for pedestrians?' the administrators of Amsterdam must have thought. Yes, indeed ... until a bike is parked there:
No problem - you may think. Pedestrians can just step around the bicycles. So what's the worry? Such remarks are made by people who have never walked around pushing a wheelchair or a pram.
Speaking about wheelchairs, in the last months of her life, I pushed my mother around in a wheelchair from time to time. Believe it or not: even disabled people occasionally want fresh air. It was then that it became clear to me that the streets of Amsterdam are hell for those who rely on a wheelchair to move around.
Nobody seems to mind when painters or other craftsmen completely block a pavement with their scaffoldings. Recently I took some pictures in the streets of Amsterdam. Here are just a few:
It would be no problem to show you hundreds of pictures like these. Well, no problem? It's a bloody shame!
