Are you a fan of cycling and dream of being able to traverse a capital city from start to finish by pedaling? Know that your wishes will soon be fulfilled in Germany. The municipality of Berlin plans to build a new high-speed cycle path between the districts of Hönow in the east and Spandau in the west, through the city center. It is approximately 38 kilometers long and should be completed by 2030, for an estimated journey time of two and a half hours. So to your bikes!
This route will actually connect two routes, an “eastern”, from Hönow to Tiergarten station, and a “western”, from the station to Spandau. Development work is due to begin in 2024 and be completed six years later. However, it cannot be ruled out that some small sections will be put into operation earlier.
Save up to 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions
For the implementation, for example, the number of lanes between Tiergartende station and the Brandenburg Gate should be reduced from six to four. In addition, some parking spaces will be removed in favor of this cycle path. The city believes that thousands of motorists should be able to switch to cycling in everyday life, if only to go to work. Almost 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions could then be saved annually. The aim is also to be able to drive around on this axis almost as fast by bicycle as by car.
In addition to this east-west axis, the German capital should have a total of around 100 kilometers of high-speed bicycle paths by 2030.
Soon a city center without cars?
Among other things, this initiative is aimed at promoting cycling in the German metropolis. A Berlin collective is therefore campaigning to ban the entire city center of the capital from cars within a few years and become a space reserved exclusively for pedestrians, public transport, bicycles and other scooters. This is in line with the history and development of so-called “low mobility emission zones”, which are proliferating today in major cities around the world.
(ETX Daily Up)