Cycling in Madrid

The city of Madrid has been increasing in the last years its network of bicycle paths. In 2016, there were 195 km of cyling routes. The city council has planned to build 400 km more for the year 2024[1] despite a very vocal opposition to the construction of segregated infrastructure by a significant part of the local cycling community.[2]

Cycling by-laws

Madrid's cycling law explicitly states that bicycle users are expected to ride on the center of the lane and that motorists must change lanes to overtake the cyclist .

Facilities

Cycle routes

According to the City Council of Madrid, the bikeways in the city can be classified into five types: bike lanes, shared-use paths, car-shared lanes, bike sidewalk-path and greenways.[3]

Nevertheless, other argue that there are up to 16 types of bikeways in Madrid.[4]

Bike lane in Toledo Street. It is segregated from the roadway by a white line.

Bike lanes

In Madrid, there are many kilometres of bike lanes (in Spanish: carril bici). There are two types: protected and non-protected.

Some of this bike lanes can be found in streets like Alcalá Street, Mayor Street, Santa Engracia Street or Toledo Street.

Shared-use paths

Shared-use paths (in Spanish: senda ciclable), are independent paths shared by ciclists and pedestrians. In Madrid, ciclists can not run faster than 15 km/h in this shared-use paths.

The most important shared-use path is Madrid Río, a park located in the banks of the Manzanares River and opened in 2011.

Carranza Street is an example of car-shared street (see in the middle lane the bicycle sign).

Car-shared lanes and streets

Car-shared lanes and streets (in Spanish: ciclocalle o ciclovía) are very frecuent in Madrid. They are marked with the drawing of a bicycle on the pavement, and they are speed limited to 30 km/h.

Bike sidewalk paths

In Madrid, there are many bike sidewalk paths (in Spanish: acera-bici). Some are located in O'Donnell Street or Serrano Street.

Greenways

Greenways (in Spanish: pista-bici) are independent cycle routes, for example the Royal Route GR-124.

BiciMAD

BiciMAD electric bicycles.

BiciMAD is a public service of bicycle-sharing. It was implemented in 2014 by the City Council, and it counts with 123 stations and 1580 bicycles.[5]

Bicycle Racing

La Vuelta a España, Spain's most popular cycling competition, always ends in Madrid.

Anillo Verde Ciclista

Anillo Verde Ciclista at the beginning of La Paz Avenue.

The Anillo Verde Ciclista (Cyclist Green Ring) is a bikeway that surrounds the city of Madrid. It is 64 kilometres long, and the average time to go across it is 4 hours and a half. It was built by phases, between the year 1995 and 2007.[6]

Madrid Río

Madrid Río park.

Madrid Río (literally: Madrid River) is a park located in the banks of the Manzanares River. It opened in 2011, and it is crossed by a cycle route shared with pedestrians.

References

  1. ↑ "Por dónde pasarán los 42 kilómetros de carriles bici que diseña Carmena para Madrid en 2017 - El Independiente". El Independiente (in Spanish). 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  2. ↑ "Una niña en mitad del tráfico: los calzadistas avivan la guerra civil de la bici en Madrid - El Confidencial". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  3. ↑ "Tipos de vías ciclistas - Ayuntamiento de Madrid". www.madrid.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  4. ↑ PAÍS, Escuela de Periodismo UAM - EL (2017-07-24). "En la capital conviven hasta 16 tipos de carril-bici que no se respetan". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  5. ↑ "BiciMAD". archive.is. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  6. ↑ "¿Qué es el Anillo Verde Ciclista? - Ayuntamiento de Madrid". www.madrid.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-01-04.
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