After Strassen NRW, the responsible planning authority, presented its plans for the centipede to the press last week, without even mentioning a cycle path, the two-wheeled lobbyists turned to the red taillights. In a personal letter they asked the minister to intervene. Their fear: "Once a zoning decision has been approved for the bridge structure, we will no longer see a cycle path along the motorway during our lifetime", Georg Wilmers, the association's transport policy spokesman, is certain.

In 2017, the city had formulated the plan for a cycle fast track along the A565. With a connection to the planned route from Bornheim to Bonn, it could become the central commuter route across the Rhine in the west of Bonn. An estimate of potential at that time suggested 1500 to 2000 cyclists per working day. The state government wiped the question off the table: a cycle path does not require planning approval and can therefore not be included in motorway planning, according to Kristina Buchmiller from the municipal press office.

In March 2019, the city of Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg district therefore submitted an official application to integrate a four-metre-wide state cycle lane into the new building plans for the Tausendfüßler. The state has been responsible for such routes since 2016. A qualified potential analysis carried out by SSP Consult has now revealed that there are as many as 5,000 cyclists on the centipede section. 2000 would be necessary for the planning of a cycle fast track. "The city of Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg district have made preliminary plans for a project that is the responsibility of the state," writes Quaedvlieg to Düsseldorf.

In the ministry, however, people are swamped. A feasibility study and a profitability calculation on the part of the city are usual, answers Ministry spokesman Bernhard Meier to GA inquiry. The city has been told "that the previous documents do not prove sufficient economic efficiency and that the feasibility has not been sufficiently proven". To date, however, the ministry has not explained its concerns in more detail, Buchmiller emphasizes.

Nevertheless, the ministry is pushing the pace: the city has only brought in its ideas late. "Waiting for the plans for the cycle fast track to be ready is not justifiable," stresses Meier. After all, the ailing Tausendfüßler, which NRW is planning to rebuild on behalf of the federal government, must be replaced as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile in Düsseldorf: If the Ministry should nevertheless still advocate the Radschnellweg, it could be considered in a plan change procedure. From the point of view of the city administration, however, such planning "only makes sense if it is consistent". Oliver Krauß, member of the CDU state parliament from the Rhein-Sieg district, also has great doubts about the subsequent feasibility of the project. He said on Friday that he wanted to work for a quick decision in Düsseldorf.

ADFC spokesman Axel Mörer stresses: "A cycle path that passes the Bonn Nord motorway junction and several exits must be planned integratively. Otherwise it won't work out at all".

Original text: Martin Wein Translation: Mareike Graepel