Grenoble

I spent my birthday in Grenoble, a beautiful city in south eastern France, population about 160,000. The city is surrounded by snow topped mountains, with lots of bike infrastructure, a light rail tram and a University. We biked around just outside the central city as well as inside the historical center.




It was easier to bike outside the city because there are tons of bike lanes on the sidewalks which are larger and more direct than the lanes in the center. In the center, there is less space which means the streets are narrower as well as the bike lanes. However, this made the cars drive slower than on the outside.


There were several of these lanes with the lane in between the parked cars and the sidewalk. One of the most beneficial aspects I can see is the avoidance of dooring, as the motorist exiting can see the cyclist coming their way. The parked cars also protect the cyclist from street traffic.





Since the lanes outside the city are on the sidewalks, a green stripe is painted in the crosswalk for the bicyclist. I have seen this in Tokyo as well, although there it wasn't used as much. It works very well here, and there are very few conflicts with peds.

We weren't sure how these work. They are fully equipped with lights, a rack and even a bell (although someone took the top of this one). This was the only community bike we saw. Notice it has a number.










This parking takes up a car space and is located right in front of a grocery store. There was plenty of bike parking everywhere we went. There are also blue signs indicating bike parking, which is useful as you travel down the street and can't see the parking behind the parked cars.

Notice in the background the green painted bike lane. At nearly every intersection the bike lane is painted to warn motorists of cyclists passing.




Nearly all the speed bumps are like this throughout the city. Although there is a separate bike way here, sometimes there is not, and the space allows bikes through without having to go over the bump.

Almost all the one-way streets with bike lanes go opposite directions, like the one in this picture. I am not sure if this is more effective in preventing accidents. It seems more logical because the driver is closer to the cyclist - the driver side is next to the bike lane. Also, this prevents one very common bike accident of drivers making right turns hitting bicyclists going straight.










Watch for bikes when turning right. At intersections where the cyclist is traveling the same direction as the motorist, I saw these signs, warning motorists not to turn right into the cyclists.











This sign says Priority Pedestrians and it flashes bright yellow. I don't know if it is the case here, but I have seen signals in France that turn green for the pedestrian a few moments before the light for the motorists. This is an excellent way to prevent motorists from turning into pedestrians.