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Re:First Solar Bike Path in Germany Is Now Live by tbe-stream on Friday May 19, 2023 @08:15AM (#36000891)
Interesting, but...

Apart from the fact that this prototype is very ugly, some limitations come to mind.

- Maintenance without blocking the bike lane. Does this require a separate access road?

- Will this work when any trees are nearby? Falling branches are likely to cause damage and block the sun.

- How does this work when buildings are nearby? You will block all the light? I'm having trouble imaging how this will look good in a more dense area - not the mention the extra width required on the sides of the bike path will be hard to get where space is at a premium (cities).

All this seems to point to a rather limited use case: bike lanes in places with few buildings and few trees, and sufficient spacing around the structure to facilitate maintenance access. That presumably means: in sparse industrial zones near edges of cities (as pictured, I suppose).

Which leads to another question: how many sparse industrial zones in Germany actually have bike 4m wide bike paths?

Re:First Solar Bike Path in Germany Is Now Live by dzogchen on Friday May 19, 2023 @08:37AM (#36001144)
> Which leads to another question: how many sparse industrial zones in Germany actually have bike 4m wide bike paths?

The answer is: no where.

You are spot on and this is just a gimmick.

https://goo.gl/maps/Pj2mQM5CvsrPFGFx6?coh=178572&entry=tt

Re:First Solar Bike Path in Germany Is Now Live by tbe-stream on Friday May 19, 2023 @09:15AM (#36001546)
I had to chuckle at the huge surface parking lot right next to it.
Re:First Solar Bike Path in Germany Is Now Live by avereveard on Friday May 19, 2023 @08:52AM (#36001301)
It's because this project has a completely different use case with very different requirement:

Design with almost no actual research budget

Buildable with contractors and off the shelf components

Aligned with local research grants