– Lower Silesia is one of the first regions in Poland to address cycling routes in such a comprehensive way. Together with experts and representatives of the cycling tourism community, we are creating a strategy for building a network of cycling routes throughout the region. We have also worked out design standards to ensure that newly built routes are safe, functional and user- and environment-friendly, says Marshal Cezary Przybylski of Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy.
The Lower Silesian Cycle Route Network project is based on a network of main cycling routes covering the entire region and also connecting with cycling routes on the Czech and German sides. The project is being developed on the basis of objective criteria and provides, among other things, access to tourist attractions, connections with the region’s most important centers, and integration with public transport.
– As the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Board, we have taken steps to obtain external funding for the Sudetes Cycle Route Network, which will connect our voivodeship through a network of routes enabling efficient cycling throughout the region. The Cycle Route Network is one of the flagship projects of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It will be a groundbreaking tourism product, enabling people to explore the entire voivodeship by bicycle—from east to west and from north to south, says Deputy Marshal Grzegorz Macko of Prawo i Sprawiedliwość.
The Lower Silesian Cycle Route Network project is the result of planning work carried out over the past four years. In 2017, the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Board adopted the Lower Silesian Cycling Policy, whose primary objective is to increase the share of cycling in transport across the voivodeship. A year later, a letter of intent was signed concerning Blue Velo—the Oder cycling route running along the river from the Czech border to the Baltic Sea. The document was signed during the Metropolitan Cycling Forum organized, among others, by the marshal’s office and the Institute for Territorial Development.
The Blue Velo route follows the model of long-distance cycling trails running along river valleys, such as the Elbe Cycling Route and the trail along the Danube. Thanks to intensive tourist traffic, these routes are an important factor in the socioeconomic development of the areas through which they run, bringing them tangible economic benefits.
The Institute for Territorial Development, reporting to the voivodeship marshal, is involved in a number of cycling-related projects. These include the “Concept for Zero-Emission Transport in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship—Cycling Mobility in the Daily Travel of Lower Silesia Residents” and a concept concerning design and construction standards for cycling infrastructure being developed in the region. The latter initiative is particularly important because it defines how future routes will be designed and built.
– Building a safe cycling route is subject to strict rules. All design and technical requirements have been included in a document prepared by the Institute for Territorial Development. This is how the design and construction standards for cycling infrastructure in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship were created—that is, guidelines for building cycling routes, notes Maciej Zathey, director of the Institute for Territorial Development.
The project will be financed using, among other sources, European Union funds. Given that some cycling routes have already been completed, the estimated cost of implementing the Lower Silesian Cycle Route Network will be approximately PLN 850 million. Some investments are nevertheless necessary for the network to meet standards of safety, comfort and attractiveness and to be accessible to all cyclists, regardless of age, equipment or physical ability.
The region’s main cycling routes form a network almost 1,800 km long. The network consists of 11 main routes, including five national routes that form part of the nationwide cycling route system adopted by the Convention of Marshals of the Republic of Poland:
- National Route No. 9: EV 9 (Adriatic–Baltic),
- National Route No. 3: Blue Velo (Olomouc–Baltic),
- National Route No. 12: Słubice–Katowice,
- National Route No. 6: Via Regia Route (Dresden–Kyiv),
- National Route No. 8: (Wrocław–Warsaw).
UMWD:
By design, the Lower Silesian Cycle Route Network is intended not only to serve a recreational function but also to be an important element of the local transport network. Cycling is the most environmentally friendly means of transport, and current technological advances make it possible to use bicycles over considerably longer distances. As a result, cycling is becoming a viable alternative for daily commutes to work, school or the store. The region’s main cycling routes can therefore serve recreation, tourism and transport alike. The Lower Silesian Cycle Route Network will significantly improve the region’s transport accessibility by connecting the routes with regional rail transport. By developing this form of transport, the voivodeship government is also pursuing the objectives set out in the European Union’s Green Deal policy.