{"id":151938,"date":"2017-06-14T07:54:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T07:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=151938"},"modified":"2017-10-27T09:17:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T09:17:39","slug":"riga-goes-guerrilla-cycling-lanes-appeared-overnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2017\/06\/14\/riga-goes-guerrilla-cycling-lanes-appeared-overnight\/","title":{"rendered":"Riga Goes Guerrilla: How Cycling Lanes Appeared Overnight"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know how they say that if you want to get something done you should just do it yourself? Well, that was apparently the mind-set of the Latvian capital\u2019s cycling activists who decided they have enough of fruitless city hall promises.<\/strong>
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Riga\u2019s Br\u012bv\u012bbas Iela is a busy mains street going through the city\u2019s heart and a battle is currently being fought there. A battle for space among pedestrians, cyclists, and cars. For years now, city officials have been insisting that there\u2019s no room for dedicated lanes and somebody run out of patience and simply painted them on.<\/p>\n

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\"video-bicycle-treasure-hunt-amsterdam-canals\"\/<\/a><\/div>
\n Urban cycling<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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VIDEO: Bicycle Treasure Hunt in Amsterdam Canals<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div>\n

To be fair, after countless negotiation attempts and sustained lobbying by pro-bike and pro-pedestrian activists, the city did adapt some measures towards a more cycling-friendly environment by marking a few bike lanes in the suburbs, but the downtown, to which the commuters cycle the most, remains untouched. In 2015, Riga\u2019s officials commissioned a full-scale strategic plan to improve cycling infrastructure once and for all, but according to one of the plan\u2019s designers, it might have been just a temporary duct tape over activists\u2019 mouths.<\/p>\n