New Bike Lane on Prague's Plzeňská Street Angers Both Drivers and Cyclists

A new bike lane has appeared on Plzeňská Street, one of the main roads leading out of central Prague, and it has come at the cost of several curbside parking spots. The change has infuriated local drivers and drawn a mixed reaction from cyclists, who argue that riding alongside fast-moving traffic is still far from safe.

"Just close Plzeňská to cars entirely and be done with it. Only an idiot takes parking spaces away from drivers on a route out of the city center. Who's responsible for this?" wrote local driver Radek Šťastný on social media, in a complaint picked up by Czech media.

Not all cyclists are thrilled about the new lane either. Prague cyclist Zbyněk Žitný admitted that while he used to be afraid to cycle on Plzeňská at all, he's now worried about cars illegally parking in the bike lane instead of on the sidewalk. "Having to swerve around them will be extremely dangerous," he said.

Where did the parking spaces go?

Jarmír Beránek, Prague's deputy mayor for transport (Czech Pirate Party), explained to reporters that without a dedicated cycling corridor, the roadway would have been too wide for its own good. The distance from the tram tracks to the edge of the road was about 5 meters — not enough for two proper traffic lanes, but too much for just one.

According to Beránek, leaving a single, roughly five-meter-wide lane undivided would have been unsafe, given the speed of traffic, the need for a safe passing distance around cyclists, and the need for passengers to safely exit parked cars. As a result, the remaining space was converted into a protected bike lane.

A dangerous concrete island removed

The situation could have been even worse had a concrete traffic island near the turn onto U Paliárky Street remained in place. The structure jutted out from the curb by about a meter into the driving lane, forcing cyclists to move dangerously close to passing cars. Fortunately, road maintenance crews removed it in August, repainting the area with solid road markings instead.

Barbora Lišková, spokesperson for Prague's Road and Motorway Administration, confirmed to reporters that the island had been part of the original design but was later revised following talks with the district administration.

Read also: Prague Metro: map and tickets

Source: novinky.cz