The Frankfurt mobility department head Stefan Majer (Die Grünen) and the responsible offices know what to expect.

No matter how many notice boards could be installed and information given out, even if they could be accessed digitally at any time on the city's traffic information portal "Mainziel": "There will be protests immediately after the closure," says the Green politician.

So it was already at the end of March when the road construction authority began to renovate the bridge built in 1983 and the direct connection from the Hanauer Landstraße to Bornheim and in the Riederwald, i.e. in the north, was sealed off.

At that time, the traffic jam time on the Hanauer Landstraße increased from one day to the next from five to 25 minutes, as the road traffic office determined.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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"We just don't reach everyone," says Wolfgang Siefert from the traffic department.

The experts from the road construction department, who answered dissatisfied motorists on the phone for days at the end of March, also know who reacts the least to tips and information: "These are the commuters." Because of their experience, they covered their routes as if automated.

In order to at least alleviate the expected traffic jams a little, Majer, together with the experts from the city's construction site coordination and the road construction department, has already started to prepare the motorists for the complete closure.

Especially since this begins the day after the schools close, i.e. on Saturday 23 July, and will only end on the last Sunday of the summer holidays, 4 September.

Also restrictions for pedestrians and cyclists

The good news is that the employees of the road construction department responsible for the bridge construction are convinced that the work on the central section of the bridge that has been announced for the summer holidays can actually be completed in the six weeks.

"There are no imponderables," says Nicole Vogel from the Bridge and Civil Engineering department.

The materials required for the renovation were all ordered months ago and are therefore already available.

This is particularly important with a view to the tram tracks, which are to be completely replaced.

Because the bridge, over which many thousands of vehicles, cars and trucks from the adjacent commercial areas normally roll every day, is also crossed by the tram line 12.

The renewal of the track system makes it necessary to completely close the bridge.

Because next to the two lanes,

of which the tracks are an integral part, one logistic lane is needed for the work.

And with that, all four lanes of the bridge are blocked during the renovation.

The only people who can use the Ratsweg Bridge, which spans seven tracks of the Deutsche Bahn, are pedestrians and cyclists in the summer weeks - albeit with certain restrictions.

And then the experts admit that there could still be a change to the previous plan: after the summer holidays, one lane would have to remain closed for the remaining work.

However, this no longer excludes traffic in both directions.

Overall, as announced in March, the road construction authority expects all work to be completed by the end of September, so that cars and trams will be able to drive over the 163-metre-long bridge again from October 1st.

This would complete the project, which was estimated to cost 3.8 million euros.

Until then, car and commercial traffic still have to survive the summer closure.

The Road Traffic Office plans to publish precise detour recommendations, including maps, soon.

It already makes sense to avoid the Ratsweg Bridge as far as possible.