Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings https://doi.org/10.14311/APP.2023.41.0083 Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings 41:83–88, 2023 © 2023 The Author(s). Licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence Published by the Czech Technical University in Prague DESIGN OF A NETWORK OF CYCLING ROUTES IN THE KUTNÁ HORA DISTRICT Lukáš Vacka∗, Pavel Vrtal, Tomáš Kohout Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Konviktská 20, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic ∗ corresponding author: vackaluk@fd.cvut.cz Abstract. Cycling is a dynamically expanding transport mode of today. At the same time, cycling is an alternative to individual car transport as well as to public transport. The basis of a good cycling infrastructure is a comprehensive network of safe cycling routes linking transport sources and destinations in the area. The partial objectives of the project are to evaluate the management of the existing cycle routes according to the way cyclists are guided and according to the surface of the individual route sections, as well as to determine the basic sources and destinations. The main objectives of the project are to design a network of bicycle routes with a focus on keeping them separate from motorized traffic and linking the identified resources and destinations, as well as determining the difficulty of each newly proposed route. Keywords: Cyclist transport, path for cyclists and pedestrian, path for cyclists, cycle traffic safety, cycle route management, path for cyclists categorization. 1. Introduction Cycling is a dynamically expanding transport mode of today. The European Union is aware of this trend and annually releases funds for the development of cycling in individual EU countries. Cycling is an alter- native to individual car transport as well as to public transport. Cycling has many benefits. It helps to reduce the risk of various illnesses, such as diabetes, some forms of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and de- pression. Cycling not only improves physical health, but also has a positive impact on mental health and subjective well-being. Cycling takes you from door to door, it offers individuality, flexibility, and freedom (ample opportunity for adapting travel times, speed and routes). If people switch from a car to a bicycle, it saves 150 g of CO2 per kilometre and 0.2 g of NOx per kilometre and 0.01 g of particulate matter per kilometre [1]. This article discusses the design of a network of cycling routes in the Kutná Hora district. First, it evaluates the current state of cycling routes, then it maps the significant sources and destinations of transport in the area, then tries to link the identi- fied sources and destinations, and finally determines the difficulty of the individual newly proposed cycle routes. The Kutná Hora district is located in the south-eastern part of the Central Bohemia Region (NUTS II) [2]. In terms of geomorphology, the district is located between the Elbe and Sázava rivers. The surface is considered to be rather hilly, due to the occurrence of the Hornosázava Hills, the Čáslav Basin and the Polabská lowland. The district covers an area of 917 km2. In terms of cycling, it is not a well- developed district, as there are only 19 marked cycle routes, which are also largely guided on class II and III roads. The potential in the form of a varied and very attractive surface for cyclists is not fulfilled. Most of the Class III roads are relatively bicycle-friendly with their low volumes of car traffic. However, due to the latest road traffic rules, which require the driver of a motor vehicle to leave a minimum lateral separation of 1.5m [3] when overtaking a cyclist, the routing of cycle routes no longer appears to be entirely safe even on these roads. Figure 1 shows unsuitable sections of cycle routes that are integrated with high volume car traffic. 2. Analysis of the current state of cycling transport There are in total 19 marked cycling routes in the Kutná Hora district. Most of them are integrated with car traffic on roads of II. and III. class. The territory of the district is crossed by the European EuroVelo 4 cycle route, the spinal long-distance Class I cycle route No. 1 and the long-distance Class II cycle route No. 19. The other cycle routes are considered to be Class IV cycle routes. Table 1 lists the individual cycle routes in the territory of the Kutná Hora district. The first column indicates the number of the cycle route. The second column shows the individual municipalities through which a given cycle route runs through. The third column presents the total length of the cycle route in the Kutná Hora district [5]. The sections of the individual cycle routes are di- vided into three categories in terms of the way they are routed: integrated, calmed and protected. An integrated cycle route is a cycle route shared with car traffic where the speed of car traffic is higher than 40 kmh−1. A calmed cycle route is a cycle 83 https://doi.org/10.14311/APP.2023.41.0083 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://www.cvut.cz/en L. Vacka, P. Vrtal, T. Kohout Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings Figure 1. Sections of Class II roads currently used for cycling routes, and their intensities [4]. Cycle Cycle route management Length [m] route number EV4 Hořany, Kutná Hora, Neškaredice, Třebešice, Čáslav, Žáky, 30087 Tupadly, Potěhy, Horky, Hostovlice, Zehuby 1 Solopysky, Dobřeň, Karlov t., Doubrava, Tuchotice, Nová Lhota, 40356 Bylany, Kutná Hora, Vrchlice, Neškaredice, Třebešice, Čáslav, Žáky, Tupadly, Potěhy, Horky, Hostovlice, Zehuby 0128 Svatá Kateřina, Nové Dvory, Ovčáry, Jakub, Církvice, Třebešice 10383 0106 Hořany, Kutná Hora, Vrchlice, Poličany, Malešov, Roztěž, Albrechtice, 42415 Bedřichov, Miletice, Nepoměřice, Žandov, Sudějov, Janovická Lhota, Uhlířské Janovice, Silvánka, Smilovice, Úžice, Talmberk 0117 Čáslav, Tupadly, Schořov, Bratčice, Hostovlice 15658 0097 Chlístovice, Týniště, Bykáň, Krupá, Úmonín, Lomec, Lomeček, 24086 Paběnice, Újezdec, Petrovice I, Michalovice, Třebětín, Tasice 0120 Vavřinec, Chmeliště, Uhlířské Janovice, Rašovice 11708 0127 Úžice, Smrk 5635 19 Sázava, Talmberk, Rataje nad Sázavou, Ježovice, Podveky, Zalíbená, Otryby, 57531 Český Šternberk, Radonice, Zdebuzeves, Tichonice, Kácov, Zliv, Holšice, Chabeřice, Zruč nad Sázavou, Horka II, Březina, Vlastějovice, Pavlovice 0118 Čáslav, Filipov, Markovice, Žleby, Zehuby 7082 0098 Černíny, Opatovice I, Červené Janovice, Zhoř, Bludov, Tasice 18037 0096 Malešov, Chlístovice, Zdeslavice, Švábínov, Rápošov, Zbraslavice, Radvančice, 35090 Řeplice, Bohdaneč, Kotoučov, Tasice, Bělá, Jedlá 0099 Chotoměřice t., Pančava, Krasoňovice, Hodkov, 18490 Hranice, Ostrov, Bohdaneč, Dvorecko 0121 Žandov, Pivnisko, Kamenná Lhota, Morány, Čestín 7255 0122 Podveky, Zbizuby, Nechyba, Vlková, Petrovice II, Kasanice, Čestín, Krasoňovice 15842 0119 Mirošovice, Opatovice II, Mitrov, Kochánov, Janovická Lhota 9808 0123 Zbizuby, Vranice, Kácov 6323 Table 1. Management of existing cycle routes. 84 vol. 41/2023 Design of a Network of Cycling Routes Figure 2. The current state of cycling routes [6]. route guided on less congested roads with speeds of 40 kmh−1 or less. Protected cycle route guidance is the guidance of cyclists on dirt, forest or paths for cyclists or on roads with mixed pedestrian and cy- cling traffic. Figure 2 shows the current state of cycle routes in the Kutná Hora district. The subsections are coloured according to the distribution defined above. Integrated sections are red, calmed sections are blue and protected sections are green. The total length of the network of cycling routes in the Kutná Hora district is 356 km. The length of integrated sections is 298 km, the length of calmed sections is 55 km and the length of protected sections is 3 km. The integrated sections therefore account for almost 84% of the total network, which is a very unsatisfactory and dangerous state. 3. Design of cycling roads Cycling roads are designed in accordance with ČSN 73 6110 (Design of local roads), especially accord- ing to TP 179 (Design of roads for cyclists), which specify the requirements for the design of roads in terms of cycling traffic. Cycling roads are designed to be safe and comfortable for bicycle use. The cyclist is a full participant in traffic, so the principle of self- explanatory and forgiving roads must also be applied to cyclists [7]. Cycling measures should logically build on each other and the cyclist should not be confused. In general, each cyclist measure should be continu- ously maintained for as long a distance as possible. Frequent changing of cycling measures reduces the safety of cycling [8, 9]. In recent years, two possi- ble ways of guiding cyclists have come into conflict. Guiding cyclists in an integrated way with car traffic and guiding cyclists together with pedestrians on the path for pedestrians and cyclists. Modern bicycles and electric bicycles reach speeds of 30–40 kmh−1 on the plain. These speeds are relatively high in shared space with pedestrians and already very dangerous for pedestrians. In integrated lines with car traffic, on the other hand, these speeds are still low and therefore dangerous for cyclists themselves. For this reason, only separate cycle paths should be imple- mented in the extravilan sections. When designing a network of bicycle routes, it is important to identify key sources and destinations that are attractive to bicycle traffic. The most important sources and des- tinations are primarily all cities, towns, and villages. The mapping process identifies the largest catchment centres to which linkages should be provided from ad- jacent smaller communities and between which a basic network of spinal cycle routes should be established. At the district level, cycling does not only represent a traffic function. It is more of a tourist, recreational and sporting function, so the design of the cycle route network should also take into account leisure destina- tions. Leisure destinations include castles, chateaux, churches, fortresses, ruins, water surfaces, rock forma- tions, recreation centres, golf resorts, lookout towers, museums, children’s parks, breweries. The first step of designing the network of cycle routes was to iden- tify the largest catchment villages, among which an aim was to find the most direct spinal routes lead- ing on forest and dirt roads. The Czech Republic’s advantage over other European countries is undoubt- edly the possibility of unlimited use of forest and dirt roads. In foreign countries, these routes are usually private and completely inaccessible. The possibility 85 L. Vacka, P. Vrtal, T. Kohout Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings Figure 3. Cycling routes management in the new concept [6]. of running cycle routes on these roads is therefore out of the question. In our country, if we can negotiate with individual road managers to agree to mark out a cycle route on their road and provide a suitable surface for all types of bicycles, newly proposed pro- tected cycle route corridors can be implemented with a significantly lower cost than would be in the case for completely newly designed roads in the open coun- tryside. Of course, the ensuring (in the context of financial investment) of adequate surfacing on these routes would not be provided by the administrator from its own resources but could be helped by subsi- dies from the European Union, that makes substantial sums available each year for the development of cy- cling. Kutná Hora, Čáslav, Zbraslavice, Zruč nad Sázavou, Uhlířské Janovice, Kácov and Rataje nad Sázavou were identified as the most important munic- ipalities among which the spinal cycling routes run. For each municipality, the aim was to ensure that the individual routes led to the most important directions. 4. Description of the newly proposed cycling routes The new concept of cycling routes in the territory of the Kutná Hora district counts a total of 40 cycling routes. 7 of them were determined to be spinal. The remaining cycling routes are complementary. The main aim was to find the most direct routes among the largest centres of the district leading on the for- est and dirt roads and also to connect the identified sources and destinations. The alignment of the newly proposed cycle routes is represented in Table 2. The newly proposed cycle routes can be seen in Figure 3. The total length of the newly proposed cycle route network is 593 km. Integrated sections amount to 176 km, calmed sections amount to 92 km and pro- tected sections amount to 325 km. It can be seen that there has been an increase in the total length of cycle routes and a significant reduction in inte- grated sections, which increases the safety and overall attractiveness of the Kutná Hora district cycle net- work. Almost 71% of the total length is made up of calmed and protected sections. This is an essen- tial fact, because it must not be forgotten that the cyclist is one of the most vulnerable road users [10]. The newly proposed cycle routes were divided into three categories in terms of slope parameters. If the maximum longitudinal slope on a specific cycle route does not exceed 6% or exceeds it only slightly on a negligible number of sections, the cycle route is suit- able for all cyclists, including families with children. The second category consists of cycle routes with a maximum longitudinal slope in the range of (6.8〉%. These routes are intended for normal adult cyclists. The last category consists of cycle routes with a max- imum longitudinal slope exceeding 8%. These routes are intended for fit, trained cyclists. Figure 4 shows all the newly proposed cycle routes specified by colour according to the above classification. Cycle routes suitable for all cyclists, including families with chil- dren, are coloured green, cycle routes for normal adult cyclists are coloured yellow and cycle routes for fit, trained cyclists are coloured red. 5. Conclusion Cycling should be considered as a separate mode of transport. Managing cycling traffic in an integrated 86 vol. 41/2023 Design of a Network of Cycling Routes Cycle Cycle route management Length [m] route number EV4 Hořany, Kutná Hora, Neškaredice, Třebešice, 32927 Čáslav, Žleby, Ronov nad Doubravou 1 Solopysky, Dobřeň, Karlov t., Doubrava, Tuchotice„ 43307 Nová Lhota, Bylany, Kutná Hora Vrchlice, Neškaredice, Třebešice, Čáslav, Žleby, Ronov nad Doubravou 19 Sázava, Mrchojedy, Ledečko, Rataje nad Sázavou, Malovidy, 59055 Český Šternberk, Soběšín, Kácov, Zliv, Holšice, Čížov, Chabeřice, Zruč nad Sázavou, Vlastějovice, Budčice, Chřenovice 0066 Čáslav, Močovice, Krchleby, Vodranty, Nová Lhota, Úmonín, Bykáň, Malešov 16542 0091 Kutná Hora, Přítoky, Kutná Hora 8790 0096 Kutná Hora, Malešov, Hetlín, Zbraslavice, Chotoměřice t., 34265 Pančava, Hodkov, Želivec, Zruč nad Sázavou 0097 Třebětín, Michalovice, Újezdec, Paběnice, Lány, Lomeček, Lomec 15284 0098 Bělá, Tasice, Červené Janovice 12613 0099 Hranice, Bohdaneč, Řeplice 12522 0106 Mrchojedy, Talmberk, Úžice, Smilovice, Mirošovice, 36294 Uhlířské Janovice, Rašovice, Onomyšl, Vidice, Nová Lhota, Bylany, Kutná Hora, Červené Pečky, Nebovidy, Kolín 0111 Bělá, Dvorecko 2373 0117 Čáslav, Schořov, Bratčice, Hostovlice, Žleby 17372 0119 Opatovice II, Malejovice, Podmoky 5043 0120 Zbraslavice, Janovická Lhota, Uhlířské Janovice, Chmeliště, Vavřinec, Církvice 17029 0121 Onomyšl, Žandov, Kamenná Lhota 11177 0122 Petrovice II, Kasanice, Čestín 2587 0123 Zbizuby, Vranice, Kácov 6329 0127 Úžice, Smrk, Skvrňov, Církvice 5635 0128 Třebešice, Církvice, Jakub, Ovčáry, Nové Dvory, Starý Kolín 12844 0199 Zruč nad Sázavou, Řendějov, Polipsy, Kácov 10302 0200 Bylany, Miskovice, Mezholezy, Vysoká, Suchdol 6302 0201 Miskovice, Červené Pečky 3483 0299 Kácov, Račíněves, Čestín, Chotoměřice t. Pančava, Zbraslavice, 32932 Radvančice, Zhoř, Chvalov, Plhov, Paběnice, Hraběšín, Březí, Schořov 0700 Rataje nad Sázavou, Mirošovice, Opatovice II 9391 0701 Rataje nad Sázavou, Útěchvosty, Podveky, Zbizuby, Vestec, 34985 Hroznice, Vlková, Nové Nespeřice, Stará Huť, Kamenná Lhota, Vernýřov, Černíny, Opatovice I, Korotice, Úmonín 0702 Uhlířské Janovice, Staré Nespeřice, Stará Huť, 15783 Tlučeň, Petrovice II, Losiny, Kácov 0800 Kutná Hora, Nové Dvory, Svatý Mikuláš, Habrkovice, 37109 Záboří nad Labem, Bernardov, Horušice, Brambory, Semtěš, Starkoč, Zbyslav 0801 Čáslav, Chotusice, Rohozec, Svatý Mikuláš 11099 0802 Kutná Hora, Hlízov 7999 0803 Jakub, Rohozec 2581 0804 Rohozec, Žehušice, Horušice 5993 0805 Kutná Hora, Vrchlice, Poličany, Křesetice, Krupá, Bykáň 5655 0900 Čáslav, Vrdy, Dolní Bučice, Zbyslav, Zaříčany, Brambory 16064 0901 Vodranty, Hraběšín, Damírov, Zbýšov, Klucké Chvalovice 15993 0902 Horky, Vrdy 4967 0903 Třebešice, Kluky, Olšany, Nová Lhota 7000 0904 Nová Lhota, Souňov, Lomec, Korotice 6118 0905 Čáslav, Žáky, Krchleby 5788 0906 Michalovice, Dědice, Dobrovítov, Čejkovice, 14773 Chlum, Klucké Chvalovice, Přibyslavice ZS Kutná Hora 3483 Table 2. Management of existing cycle routes. 87 L. Vacka, P. Vrtal, T. Kohout Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings Figure 4. Distribution of the newly proposed cycling routes according to difficulty [5]. way with car traffic in extravilan sections with higher car traffic intensities is always an inappropriate so- lution. A good quality cycle route network should therefore, for the most part, include protected sec- tions where cyclists are routed away from car traffic. Of course, it is not economically desirable to have 100% of cycle routes segregated from car traffic, but leaving cycling integrated with car traffic is only pos- sible on a small number of sections with very low motorised traffic intensities. Only in this case will the cycle route network be safe and attractive for potential users. The main aim of this concept was to design a cycle route network that connects all the important sources and destinations in the area while being safe, as most of the sections will be routed away from traffic. Approximately 70% of the cycle routes run away from unsafe motorised traffic, the remaining 30% of the cycle routes were maintained on very low volume roads, as in these cases no alternative was found in the form of a comparably direct connection between the identified destinations on forest or dirt roads. However, psychological features highlighting the presence of cyclists (e.g. SDZA19, VDZV15 with the pictogram SDZA19 or VDZV18) are envisaged on these roads so that drivers of motor vehicles can an- ticipate a possible collision with this vulnerable road user. The new concept can be implemented in the cy- cling concept of the Central Bohemian Region for the period 2017–2023 with a view to 2027 and can serve as a basis for subsequent detailed phases of designing cycling routes in the territory of the Kutná Hora dis- trict. The construction of a kilometre of cycle path costs approximately 3–5 million. The exact amount depends on the location of the cycle path (whether intravilan or extravilan) and the type and strength characteristics of the surface used. In this concept, the cycle paths are mainly in the extravilan area and better-quality surfaces are proposed, as heavy agricul- tural and forestry equipment is expected to be allowed to enter. The economic calculation therefore assumes an amount of 5 million per 1 km of cycle path. The length of the newly proposed sections to be paved is approximately 323 km. The total cost of construction is therefore CZK 1 615 000 000. References [1] L. Harms, M. Kansen. Cycling facts, 2018. [2022-08-01], https://www.government.nl/binaries/ government/documenten/reports/2018/04/01/ cycling-facts-2018/Cycling+facts+2018.pdf. [2] Regiony soudržnosti (NUTS 2) a kraje (NUTS 3) České republiky. [2022-08-01], https: //www.czso.cz/csu/czso/regiony-soudrznosti-nuts- 2-a-kraje-nuts-3-ceske-republiky. [3] Zákon č. 361/2000 Sb., o provozu na pozemních komunikacích, ve znění pozdějších předpisů. [4] OpenStreetMap. [2022-08-01], https://www.openstreetmap.org/. [5] Cyklokoncepce pro období 2017–2023. [2022-08-01], https: //gis.kr-stredocesky.cz/js/dop_cyklokoncepce/. [6] Mapy.cz. [2022-08-01], https://mapy.cz/zakladni? [7] Centrum dopravního výzkumu. Bezpečnostní inspekce pozemních komunikací, 2013. [8] TP 179 - Navrhování komunikací pro cyklisty, 2017. [9] ČSN 73 6110 - Projektování místních komunikací, 2006. [10] Z. Schejbalová, T. Mičunek, D. Schmidt. Biomechanical analysis of the dummy responses in case of child pedestrian/cyclist collision with passenger car. Neural Network World 23(6):609–622, 2013. https://doi.org/10.14311/NNW.2013.23.036 88 https://www.government.nl/binaries/government/documenten/reports/2018/04/01/cycling-facts-2018/Cycling+facts+2018.pdf https://www.government.nl/binaries/government/documenten/reports/2018/04/01/cycling-facts-2018/Cycling+facts+2018.pdf https://www.government.nl/binaries/government/documenten/reports/2018/04/01/cycling-facts-2018/Cycling+facts+2018.pdf https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/regiony-soudrznosti-nuts-2-a-kraje-nuts-3-ceske-republiky https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/regiony-soudrznosti-nuts-2-a-kraje-nuts-3-ceske-republiky https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/regiony-soudrznosti-nuts-2-a-kraje-nuts-3-ceske-republiky https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://gis.kr-stredocesky.cz/js/dop_cyklokoncepce/ https://gis.kr-stredocesky.cz/js/dop_cyklokoncepce/ https://mapy.cz/zakladni? https://doi.org/10.14311/NNW.2013.23.036 Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings 41:83–88, 2023 1 Introduction 2 Analysis of the current state of cycling transport 3 Design of cycling roads 4 Description of the newly proposed cycling routes 5 Conclusion References