In the Netherlands, there is at this moment in time little certainty about the design of `distributors' and rural traffic calming areas. It was considered useful to test the ideas about them in practice. In this study, therefore, the experiences of more than 20 design measures were gathered and analysed in order to judge which measures fit a `sustainably safe' approach. The measures analysed were, among other things: separation of driving directions, construction of cycle lanes (non-compulsory or of a different colour), complete reconstruction of a road and a junction, and various other measures usually meant to lower speeds. The measures were grouped as much as possible and analysed as a type of measure. The possibility of drawing well-founded conclusions was limited, because some types were rare and some of the relevant information was missing. Clearly positive results were achieved by the separation of driving directions, such as the double axis marking on rural roads. These were preferably complemented by extra provisions between the two stripes. Also scoring well were reconstructions in which at least the speed on junctions was lowered.
Abstract