To Copenhagen to be the second most bike-friendly city in the world don't seem to get. The Danish capital is now considering one of the most ambitious ever cycling projects: the construction of a bike path over the Øresund bridge linking Copenhagen to Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden.
The two cities are separated by sea, particularly the Strait of Øresund. However, since 2000 it is possible to travel from one city to the other via a bridge with about 7.8 kilometres and is on this road crossing is considering to build a bike path. The bridge has two trays â€" a road and another railroad. And now the Swedish construction companies Skanska and Sweco presented a project for the construction of another cycling tray.
This new international bike path is just one aspect of an ambitious social project and ongoing engineering and that can be even more daring than Europe ever witnessed. Since the bridge opened, the Sweden and Denmark have worked together to create a new international metropolitan area, linking Copenhagen and Malmö, with nearly four million inhabitants, two Governments, two official currencies and two languages.
However, plans for the construction of bicycle paths are not easy. This new Board would have to be suspended above the road Board and covered to provide protection for cyclists. The Oresund Bridge is not always about sea, since it crosses land Danish side, on artificial island Peberholm. The bridge continues then to Copenhagen via an underground tunnel, built to allow the passage of vessels in the Strait. In this final section underground, with about four kilometres, the bike path would have to be implemented in a tunnel specially constructed for the purpose. The project will be quite expensive, but a large part of the funds would come from fees of crossing the bridge, referred to Atlantic City Lab.
The whole project may seem megalomaniac and the possibility of leaving the plant is unlikely. However, projects such as this seem to be becoming a regional speciality. This project is only part of a thorough plan for the region, called the Øresund 2070, which includes a new integrated rail system and new railway lines, a new tunnel to remove lorries from the roads and trains, 300 miles of new bike lanes, as well as housing for over one million people.
The plan may seem surreal, but to the South, the Danes are building one who will be the world's largest road and rail tunnel, an underground passageway of 18 kilometres under the Fehrmarn Strait that separates Denmark from Germany. The construction of the tunnel will reduce the connection between Copenhagen and Hamburg in 90 minutes.
While the remaining projects are not completed, the Oresund Bridge is to remodel the region dramatically. Since the opening of the bridge crossings between Copenhagen and Malmö have increased dramatically. Every day approximately 300,000 people crossing the bridge, since many Danes choose to live in Sweden, where the cost of living and of dwellings are smaller, and continue to work in Denmark, since the Danish Krone is stronger than the Swedish krona.
The ports in the region are regulated by a single regulatory authority and the universities of the region (including many of the best and oldest in Scandinavia) are working to create a single Consortium that allows students to choose courses throughout the region.
Foto:  vaktra / Creative Commons
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