Did you know that Tilburg was one of the first cities with many cycle paths? In our city, a lot of testing was done with bicycle paths in the 1970s. Some are still there, others look a little different now. Are you watching?
In 1977 the bicycle route with the nickname ‘The Red Bicycle Path’ was a fact. That name is easy to explain: it was also one of the first with the typical red color.
Filming cycle paths
The Danish filmmaker Leif Larsen visited Tilburg in 1978. Of course he couldn’t resist grabbing his camera to film the bike paths. He wasn’t the only one who came all the way from abroad to stare at the cycle route. The paths attracted a lot of attention from tourists.
Then and now
The YouTube channel BicycleDutch looks at what is left of the test bike paths forty years later. In 2018 they filmed what it looks like on the bike now. We see, among other things, the Boomstraat, Tuinstraat, Bredaseweg, the Korte Heuvel, Willem II Street, St. Ceciliastraat and, of course, the Vijfbescherming.
Completely lyrical
The people of BicycleDutch are completely lyrical about Het Rode Fietspad. They indicate once again that the bicycle network served as inspiration for many other cities. According to BicycleDutch, the cycle path should be more recognized.
See here how much has (not) changed:
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