engleski

Bicycle traffic in the city of Osijek

The city of Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia, with an area of about 171 km2 and more than 107 000 inhabitants. It is located along the right bank of the Drava River whose flow defined the shape and development of the city. Namely, Osijek is positioned longitudinally along the Drava River and got a characteristic elongated shape which also defined development of the city traffic. Consequently, most of the city's main traffic routes are positioned longitudinally, along the larger residential areas and the transversal connections are intermittent by town squares and public rail route that runs through the city. In addition to public transport, city of Osijek has developed bicycle transportation. Since City of Osijek is situated in east-Croatian lowland, it has very favourable natural predisposition for the development of this form of transportation. Systematic thinking about bicycle traffic and infrastructure started in middle 1990s and few years later, first bicycle traffic counting was conducted. These days, with more than 30 km of bicycle paths and being part of international bicycle routes, Osijek is turning into a city of bicycles. Movement towards promotion of biking as fun and healthy alternative way of travel comes from different associations in Osijek. City government has also recognized the value of bike paths, which can be seen in continuous construction of new paths in different parts of Osijek and instalment of bicycle sharing system. In this paper main characteristics of bicycle paths network in the city of Osijek will be shown. Level of built of urban spaces presents a problem when planning new bike paths, therefore characteristics of bike paths vary depending on location. Special emphasis will be put on critical points of bicycle path network and comparison of bicycle paths with their presentation in Croatian legislation will be given.

bicycle traffic ; historic overview ; infrastructure characteristics ; legislation ; city of Osijek

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