If only it weren't for the gaps.

Every cyclist who is out and about in Frankfurt will think so.

The network of cycle paths marked in red has been growing steadily since the city parliament decided in 2019 to implement proposals from the Radentscheid initiative and to further develop Frankfurt into a bicycle city.

One focus is on the main roads such as the north-south axis in the east of the city center, which is already provided with cycle lanes and now extends from Sachsenhausen to Friedberger Platz.

And that with a 2.30 meter wide strip throughout - and where possible, with structural elements that separate the cycle path and car traffic.

Not to forget traffic light switching and turning options, which cyclists now take into account.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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With the start of the holidays, the Office for Road Construction and Development decided on the Mainkai.

Work on this section of the northern bank of the Main, which has been so controversial for the past two years, has just started.

For the cycle lanes on both sides of the Main Quay, one of the previous three lanes for motorists will have to be eliminated.

And anyone who is currently observing the situation will see that, due to the work, only one lane is temporarily available.

The aim of the traffic department is that by the end of this summer there will be a continuous red cycle lane from the Schöne Aussicht over the Mainkai to the Friedensbrücke.

This would have created an important east-west connection along the Main for cyclists.

The cycle path at the main train station is "overdue"

Cyclists, as well as the head of the transport department, Klaus Oesterling (SPD), consider a cycle path along the main train station to be “overdue”. Not only is this connection heavily trafficked, the traffic management with confusing turning options has so far prevented many people from getting on their bikes and using the road despite their good will. Now “better times are dawning”, the department recently announced. A separate route for bikers has been created between Baseler Platz and Karlstrasse. It is still only partially colored red and ends abruptly.

There are also considerable gaps on the opposite side, i.e. in the direction of the Main.

“You need to be patient.” This is how the department describes the situation and refers to the Deutsche Bahn construction site.

In autumn, the railway started to rebuild the B-level in the northern part of the station forecourt.

It wants to be finished in 2025.

Only then does the wheel track appear as it should be.

After all, according to Oesterling, “the increasing number of cyclists have a right to be able to use central connecting roads”.

Structural protection against motorists

And a third, important street in the center of Frankfurt got a cycle path, at least in parts: Hanauer Landstraße - between Obermainanlage and Rückertstraße. This is the part of the road where it is narrow and narrow and where a speed limit of 30 is required. As on the Mainkai and the main train station, the strip could only be laid out because a lane was cut off from motorists on the section of Hanauer Landstrasse. In this case it was mainly used for parking. This cycle path also ends suddenly. It goes without saying that it will continue as soon as the energy supplier Mainova has completed the pipeline work planned on the further route. The same applies to the northern side.

The cycle path is to be structurally secured on both sides in such a way that motorists cannot use the area to park or stop. In Oesterling's opinion, the separation of modes of transport is the best way to make the roads clearer and safer for cyclists. And he affirmed: The Hanauer Landstrasse as the central access lane from the east of Frankfurt has "high priority" for the city.