"Norway Will Spend Almost $1 Billion on New Bike Highways"

Talking about committing to a green future. This is really great to see this level of commitment from a country to making their country more bike-able. 

As part of a plan announced last week, the country will spend a massive 8 billion Norwegian Kroner ($923 million) creating 10 broad, two-lane, cross-country bike tracks in and near Norway’s nine largest cities, allowing longer-distance cyclists to travel with a speed and safety hitherto impossible. A key component of plans to slash Norway’s transit emissions by half, the bike highway scheme still faces some resistance. Not only is cycling in Norway relatively uncommon by Scandinavian standards, but the new highways will be constructed in a mountainous country that is cold and dark for much of the year.

First, it’s important to be clear about what’s being planned. In keeping with theemerging European definition of the term “bike highway” (“super cycleway” in Norwegian), these will not be tracks linking far-flung cities across hundreds of miles, at least not at this initial stage. What the new paths will do is create bike commuter links between inner cities and outer suburbs, extending the protected cycle network out from urban cores through the commuter belt and into the countryside beyond.

Full article, "Norway Will Spend Almost $1 Billion on New Bike Highways"