Major investment in cycle paths: ‘Texel has put itself back on the map as a cycling island’

As far as Conijn is concerned, the island can once again profile itself as one of the most bicycle-friendly municipalities in the Netherlands. Texel took over the management and maintenance of the cycle paths from Staatsbosbeheer more than four years ago. The nature organization’s priority is to maintain nature and not to build cycle paths. “These cycle paths were in dire need of renovation,” says Conijn. “They consisted alternately of tiles, asphalt and clinkers and were too narrow and therefore too dangerous.” A total of more than 32 kilometers of cycle path on the island will be renovated. All together, there are more than 140 kilometers of cycling routes on Texel.

Bicycle traffic on the island has increased enormously in recent years. Due to the arrival of the electric bicycle and an increase in tourists, the cycle paths are well occupied, especially in the summer months. “Cycling traffic is also getting faster and other types of bicycles have now been added, such as the electric cargo bike and the duo bike,” says Conijn.

When taking over the cycle paths, the municipality also became responsible for safety. This means that most cycle paths must be widened on average by two meters to 3 meters to comply with national guidelines. “On some routes the width should even be 3.5 meters in accordance with the so-called CROW guideline,” says Conijn. “We only applied this width to a very busy route, because we do not want to create bicycle highways through the forest.”

Not an easy job, because of the Natura 2000 guidelines (in which most cycle paths are located) and nature that must be compensated. But according to Conijn, the investment is well worth it. “Texel has put itself back on the map as a cycling island,” he says.

Sustainable safe

According to Conijn, the cycle paths are ‘sustainably safe’. “Together with the Texel company RAB and manufacturer ENCI from Limburg, we have developed a type of concrete that emits 30 percent less CO2. This also influences the subsidy from the province of North Holland, which is also very happy with this. From various places in the Netherlands was informed about this concrete with great interest.”

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It started four years ago with the renewal of the cycle path through the Eierlandse Duinen, a route from De Koog to De Cocksdorp. In this first cluster, the municipality wanted to tackle the busiest cycle path on Texel first. In addition to renewal, the cycle path also had to be widened. Not an easy task, because widening this cycle path located in Natura 2000 area was at the expense of qualified habitat (nature).

“The limited amount of qualified habitat that was in danger of being lost has been compensated elsewhere by transplanting and returning a section of cycle path to nature,” says Conijn. The total costs were almost 2.2 million euros, of which the municipality itself had to contribute less than half due to various subsidies from the province of North Holland and the central government, among others.

In the second cluster, the cycle paths along Ruyslaan, Bosrandweg, Californieweg and Randweg in De Koog and the cycle paths to beach areas pole 15 and pole 17 were tackled. This process, with a total cost of more than 2.4 million euros, has now also been completed.

The municipality is currently completing work in the third cluster. This concerns cycle paths through the Dennen. This also includes the implementation of the special project ‘Tureluur’ and ‘Schettersweid’. These are valuable nature reserves on the island that cannot simply be disturbed.

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“There was already a bad and far too narrow cycle path there and it also had to be widened,” says Conijn. “But reconstruction of this cycle path was out of the question and it was almost punishable by death, because it is located in a Natura 2000 area. Moreover, the aim of the nature restoration is to raise the groundwater level in this already wet area. It is already regularly a narrow cycle path running under water could no longer be used very frequently.”

In the Tureluur and Schettersweid nature reserves, Staatsbosbeheer wants to improve conditions for valuable species, increase biodiversity and retain fresh water for longer. The cycle path shifts in the edge of the forest to rehydrate a more robust piece of nature that is no longer cut in two by a cycle path. “This area has everything to develop into dune blue grassland and that is very rare,” says Staatsbosbeheer.

Cycle path along forest edge

Conijn is happy with this solution. “By collaborating with Staatsbosbeheer and making the relocation of the cycle path part of the nature recovery plan, the Environment Agency was prepared to grant an exemption for a permit under the Nature Conservation Act. We have succeeded in relocating the cycle path along the edge of the forest. I dare say that this will be one of the most beautiful cycle paths on Texel. The cycle path meanders through the woods and passes very beautiful nature reserves with very special vegetation. We hope to have this completed in April. In all clusters, the province of North Holland and also STIFT (Texel Tourist Investment Fund Foundation, ed.) have provided ample financial support.”

And it will continue for a while. Because the Rommelpot to Den Hoorn and the Rozendijk in the Dennen are now also being tackled. Work on the Rommelpot was halted by the judge for a week because an objection had been filed. And the weather is also playing tricks now. “If we had not had the delay due to the lawsuit followed by the bad weather conditions, this process would already have been completed,” says Conijn.

Finally, De Rozendijk, the section between Grensweg and Pontweg, will soon be tackled. A project worth 1.8 million euros in which almost 2 kilometers of cycle path will be replaced and the road will also be redesigned. The municipality has already had several consultations with all local residents. “They were allowed to come up with ideas and wishes themselves,” says Conijn.

Bats

“By widening and rerouting the trees, trees that are in poor condition and at the end of their life cycle should disappear. Trees will be replanted in consultation with the green manager. Research has already shown that bats have shelter in a number of diseased trees. Several residents have already indicated that they want to install bat boxes in their homes, which means we can move the bats well in time. This is how we were able to solve that. A wonderful form of citizen participation.” The plan is to start this process in January 2025.

Here too, contributions will be drawn from, among others, the province and STIFT. This process will start in January 2025. The council has already given its approval for this.