EuroVelo Route Assessment: Tailored Approaches for Different Development Stages

In May, we informed you about BAB partners joining the EuroVelo Route Inspector Training held in Brussels on April 9-10. During the summer and autumn, it was time to put the route inspector training into use and start the route assessment in Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Poland! 

The EuroVelo route assessment methodology and app can be utilized in various cases. As the BAB project has established, the current status of EuroVelo 10 varies in the partner countries. Therefore, the assessment was implemented from different perspectives, which are explained in this article. We’ll be taking a closer look at the assessment in each country in the upcoming publications! 

Ensuring the Alignment of the Route

Not all EuroVelo routes are signposted, which still gives the possibility for the route developers to influence the route alignment, which needs to be agreed with ECF. Before signposting, it is important to see from the bike saddle which alignment follows the best route for the cycling tourist’s perspective. However, there can be several opinions on what is considered “best” in each case. Therefore, local authorities, service providers, and other stakeholders should be involved when considering new alignments for the EuroVelo routes. 

Verifying Signposting and GPX Track

The implementation of the EuroVelo signposting varies from country to country, but one thing is for sure: once the signposting is implemented, it needs to be checked from the bike saddle. Due to various reasons, wrong or missing signs can still appear, and sometimes the signposted route does not follow the GPX track. Whatever the case, one focus of the route assessment can be verifying the functionality of the signposting. 

Re-assessment of Signposted Routes

Signs do go missing, road conditions change, and services are updated. Re-assessment of EuroVelo routes is therefore necessary from time to time. The certified routes are required to be inspected every 5 years to maintain the certification. Even without certification, it is beneficial to reassess them to see if the route conditions are still good and the route descriptions are up to date.

Creating Route Descriptions

Whatever the condition of the route, route descriptions are essential to share information and market the route realistically to suitable target groups. Riding the route sections gives an overview of what cyclists can expect along the way. It has also revealed both larger and smaller development needs and possibilities within the partner countries. The route assessment has been an excellent exercise for the project partners to put the lessons learned into practice and begin working on concrete route development activities, involving local and regional authorities in the route development, as well as start writing the route descriptions for the assessed EuroVelo 10 sections. 

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