Bonn Uni-Clinic Director Aerial cableway is only alternative to clogged roads
BONN · Because of canal work on access roads to Venusberg, drivers and passengers were once again left splitting their hairs. Traffic stretched back to Poppelsdorf and Kessenich. The medical director at the University Clinic also waited in line. His conclusion: without an aerial cableway, it doesn’t work.
Wolfgang Holzgreve, the medical director of the University Clinic, says “The traffic jams on the access routes to the Uni-Clinic have exceeded a critical level,” bearing in mind recent congestion caused by black ice. “We are taking many measures to reduce individual traffic, from the Mobility Ticket to E-bikes to carpooling, all which are worth a lot of money to us,” he said. But ultimately it is about getting to the clinic. Even when the weather is fine, there is still stop-and-go traffic, often already at the traffic lights in front of St. Marien Hospital.
One can’t legally enforce an alternative route through the Kottenforst and a tunnel with an elevator to the Venusberg is utopian. “A cableway is sensible and ecologically sound,” he says. It’s also the best solution financially.
Traffic expert, professor Heiner Monheim expects a cost of around 50 million euros for a gondola route between the Regierungsviertel (government district) and the clinic. The state would cover over 90 percent of the costs. Results from an ongoing feasibility study are expected in March.
But there are also opponents like the citizens initiative "Bonn remains cable-free", which is currently collecting signatures for their campaign against an aerial cableway system. Critics complain that the cable route would go over their houses and clear a path free of trees all the way up the Venusberg.
The medical director does not care whether the cableway station would be located at the clinic or next to it. Anyone who arrives at the top of the road can reach all the buildings quickly by foot.
Should there be a green light for the aerial cableway project, which could also bring recreation seekers to the mountain, the construction should be possible within a few months. This is because specialist companies have a lot of experience with mountain railways and have built urban cableways in other parts of the world.
In Bonn, for example, the valley station could be located at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) and/ or the future stop at the UN Campus where many different forms of traffic will converge. A trip from there to the Venusberg would take only a few minutes.
According to the city, the construction zone traffic lights on Robert-Koch-Straße will soon disappear and the traffic flow will improve again. The canals are to be finished on February 24.
(Orig. text: Richard Bongartz)
