There is a tense, sometimes even aggressive atmosphere in the hall at the Südbahnhof.
The citizens of Sachsenhausen had waited a long time for information from the city on how Schweizer Straße and Schweizer Platz should be redesigned.
On Friday evening, the head of the traffic department, Stefan Majer (The Greens), and the head of the new building department in the road construction department, Michael Weiwoda, presented a feasibility study to the local advisory board - and received both praise and sharp criticism.
Schweizer Straße is one of the central approaches to the city center from the south.
Trams, cars and bicycles drive close together here, and pedestrians often cross the street.
This is dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians - and loud for residents.
In the sense of “urban mobility in the 21st century”, the public space must therefore be “redistributed”, says Head of Department Majer.
Specifically, that means: Schweizer Straße and Schweizer Platz should become less car-friendly.
Less parking spaces
Specifically, the city wants to direct car traffic and trams in a straight line across Schweizer Platz, so far a roundabout has been set up there. Turning options in residential streets are to be abolished and structurally separate bicycle lanes are to be built next to the roadway and around the outside. This would create a new tram stop on the square. However, parking spaces were also lost and the outgoing roads would be more difficult to reach by car. According to Weiwoda, Head of the New Building Department, all of this is only “input for a competition process”.
Jochen Heumann, chairman of the Sachsenhausen CDU local association, is indignant, because the lack of turning options means that traffic is being pushed into the surrounding residential streets.
“We want less, not more, traffic in front of our living rooms.” Head of Department Majer replies that all streets there are residential streets and asks back: “Dear Jochen, what world do you live in?”
"The basic idea of the planning is very good"
On the other hand, there is praise from Bertram Giebeler from the German bicycle club in Frankfurt.
He thinks the "basic idea of the planning is very good," he says, but he does point out that a speed limit of 30 should apply on the street and in the square in order to better protect pedestrians.
Fundamental criticism was also heard at the presentation itself: due to the pandemic, there were only around 50 seats in the hall, of which, however, a significant number was occupied by city representatives.
For interested citizens of Sachsenhausen, only 25 chairs remained free.
It will be some time before the controversial renovation begins: a participation process is initially planned for 2022, in which citizens can formulate their own renovation proposals.
The concrete planning is to begin in spring 2023 and this will then be presented to the local advisory board.