rijpaden

Rijpaden is a Dutch term used in civil engineering, land-use planning, and cadastral surveying to denote driving paths or routes intended for motorized traffic. The singular rijpad refers to a path designed to be driven on, while rijpaden denotes a network of such routes within a site, farm, industrial complex, or rural road system.

In practice, rijpaden define the vehicle-access routes on a plan: they connect entrances to buildings, parking areas, and public roads, and are typically distinct from pedestrian paths or bicycle paths. They are usually drawn on site plans with assigned widths and surface types (asphalt, concrete, or compacted gravel) and are designed to accommodate expected vehicle loads, turning radii, and drainage requirements. In municipal planning and cadastral documents, rijpaden may be used to illustrate private or public access axes and to demarcate property boundaries along access routes.

Terminology and usage vary regionally. The term is more common in formal planning and technical contexts; in everyday language, it may be superseded by rijbaan (roadway) or simply pad (path), depending on local conventions. Rijpaden can form part of larger road hierarchies and may interact with other route types, such as fietspaden (bike paths) and voetpaden (footpaths), within a shared space or on adjacent parcels.