Interesting snow plowing policy in Denmark’s capital city where bike lanes are actually given priority over streets after a storm. Copenhagen and its neighboring city Frederiksberg both have this unique approach to winter street maintenance for a populace that is famous for their cycling commutes.
Copenhagen de-ices and plows around the clock during snow events that ensure the bike lanes are passable by 8:00am when the nearly 400,000 bike commuters start to head into work. Bike lanes are considered as part of their critical infrastructure and are treated as such. The below video is from a recent storm and shows a cavalcade of bikers following a small plow as it clears the way:
In Kopenhagen gibt es die Vorschrift, dass alle wichtigen Radwege bei Schneefall bis spätestens 08:00 Uhr morgens geräumt sein müssen, damit die Menschen sicher mit dem Fahrrad zur Arbeit fahren können. So sieht dass dann aus❤️😀 pic.twitter.com/96ULjkFcA0
— Ingwar Perowanowitsch (@Perowinger94) February 9, 2026
With this kind of attention to the bike lanes in the winter, it no great surprise that around 75% of cyclists in Copenhagen continue to ride throughout the winter.
They even have a catchy nickname for the hearty practice of cycling year round “Viking Biking”:
