After a four-hour, controversial and very emotional debate, the district politicians responsible for the Westend decided on Wednesday evening with the votes of the Greens and the SPD to redesign Grüneburgweg and Kettenhofweg into bike-friendly streets for a year on a trial basis.

The aim is to give cyclists and pedestrians more space based on the successes of other cities in order to increase the attractiveness of the streets as places to stay.

Such a decision is inevitably at the expense of car traffic because of the limited space on the two streets.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The central point of contention is the elimination of parking spaces.

In the case of Grüneburgweg, the focus of the discussion was the so-called diagonal barrier, which is planned in the eastern part of the shopping street - between Eschersheimer Landstraße and Reuterweg - at the level of the Im Trutz street in order to prevent more than 7000 vehicles from passing through every day.

Partly massive protests by traders

Up until the end, the CDU in particular had fought to react to the sometimes massive protests by tradespeople and a number of residents in Grüneburgweg and to moderate the redesign of the shopping street by largely preserving parking spaces.

The redesign of Grüneburgweg could otherwise eliminate 77 of the currently 207 parking spaces.

In a joint application, the CDU, FDP and BFF also called for the diagonal lock on Im Trutz to be dispensed with. With it, the traffic would be displaced into the parallel and side streets. In their motion, the three parliamentary groups committed themselves to a “contemporary redistribution of the traffic area”, but the redesign should be based on the needs and wishes of residents and traders. This motion was not approved by the majority.

The massive demeanor of some citizens against the redesign plans, especially for Grüneburgweg, did not help either.

The plans have been drawn up by the traffic department as a result of the city parliament's resolution “Bicycle City Frankfurt”.

For almost a year they have been before the local advisory board, which is responsible for the Westend, Bockenheim and the Kuhwaldsiedlung and votes on the suitability of the plans.

In September the transport department presented them to the citizens at an information event.

The occasion of the municipal initiative is the cycling decision, in which 40,000 citizens signed for more and safer cycle paths.

"Nobody has spoken to anyone"

“I'm not against cyclists,” said one of the traders. But he feared losses if his customers could no longer park in Grüneburgweg. "And who will reimburse me for this?" He said, and asked for a better dialogue. Another criticized that the city "knocked out any plans" instead of taking the citizens with it. "Nobody has spoken to anyone." Advice from Katharina Knacker, the transport policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Römer, that there had been direct mail for the residents and the aforementioned information event, was hardly heard, nor was the advice that all plans were on a city website can be viewed so that suggestions and criticism can be formulated.

Others emphasized how much they are dependent on the car and therefore on parking spaces. One dentist stated that he needed parking spaces for his employees in the surrounding area. Still others accused the Greens and the SPD of “dogmatism”, they wanted to dictate how people should live. BFF politician Knut Emmert admitted as a self-confessed pedestrian that the philosophy of the car-friendly city was a "delusional idea". But now it is being replaced by the “delusional idea of ​​a city suitable for bicycles”. CDU politician Axel Kaufmann warned that the plans would damage Grüneburgweg as a commercial street. The CDU is on the bike decision, there is only criticism of the planned design.

Proponents of the redesign also spoke up.

Everyone is talking about bicycle streets, said one citizen, while the goal is to create “streets for people”.

It “feels good” when you can cycle safely with your children.

“The problem is simply the number of cars,” said another, “we need to reduce traffic.” With cars, it is above all about convenience.

"We hope for an increase in positive attitude towards life," said another citizen.

To do the redesign on a trial basis for a year, “that's a fair offer”.