Based on the objectives of Sustainably Safe, 30 km/hr areas may not be a walkers’ or cyclists’ paradise, but they do constitute safe areas where walking and cycling is enjoyable. This requires restrictions to the speed limit and the intensity of motorised traffic. Whether this is possible in ‘sober’ designed 30 km areas is still not clear after research conducted for AVV in nineteen areas. Many questions remain unanswered. Although 3VO started speed measurements itself following numerous complaints from local residents, more extensive research is necessary.
From the DHV study, it appears that in all nineteen areas speed restrictive measures have been implemented. Measures which immediately affect the choice of route through a district are rare. In only one of the areas, a clamp has been installed, while in another there was one already. One-way traffic has only been implemented in one district. The report claims that a sober approach in purely residential streets is generally sufficient.
In (wider) streets designed to open up a district, measures based on bottlenecks is usually too limited to achieve the required speed behaviour, even if some municipalities have been so bold as to be ‘more than sober’. These are fine claims, but they have no solid foundation.