Test phase for extended city ring road Rathausgasse in Bonn now closed to cars
Bonn · On Sunday, the city of Bonn officially introduced the new traffic routing for the extended city ring road along the Hofgarten. Rathausgasse is now closed to cars.
Cars from Belderberg can no longer turn into Rathausgasse to drive to the main train station. They will be routed along Am Hofgarten, Fritz-Tillmann-Straße and Kaiserstraße past the bus station. The first of September was also the deadline for a change in traffic routing on Kaiserstraße, which will now be a one way street towards the city centre until 31 March. However, from Nassestraße, cars will only reach the main station via a bypass.
Heading away from the city, the road is reserved for buses and bicycles as an environmental lane. The aim is to make Kaiserstraße more bicycle friendly. The council coalition hopes that the extended city ring will provide pedestrians with better connections to the university, Kaiserplatz and the Hofgarten and therefore expand the city centre if there are fewer cars in front of the university.
The city has said that it will closely monitor and analyse the changes, which have been criticised by residents, and make adjustments if problems arise. The acid test will be in the coming days and weeks when the traffic routings take effect during rush hour traffic.
The German Cyclists’ Federation (ADFC) has criticised both solutions. President Annette Quadvlieg has called on Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan to abandon the extended city ring road and cut it completely so that no cars can reach the main train station forecourt. The ADFC wants to force politicians to create four bicycle routes across Bonn’s city centre, two in a north-south direction and two in an east-west direction. There should be wide lanes on B9, Thomasstraße, Am Hauptbahnhof and Kaiserstraße.
(Original text: Philipp Königs. Translation: kc)
