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Cologne: Cycle path on Rheinuferstrasse is being dismantled - that's what's behind it!
The city of Cologne is dismantling the temporary cycle path on Rheinuferstraße in order to reduce financial burdens.
Cologne: Cycle path on Rheinuferstrasse is being dismantled - that's what's behind it!
Significant changes are imminent on Rheinuferstrasse in Cologne. The city administration has decided to dismantle the temporary cycle path on Rheinuferstrasse, also known as “Am Ley Stapel”. This was announced on Tuesday and dismantling is scheduled to begin on Thursday. The area will be restored to its original condition, allowing cars, buses and trucks to use the lane as was the case before.
The decision to dismantle this is no coincidence. For financial reasons, the city of Cologne considers the temporary cycle path to be unsustainable. City Treasurer Dörte Diemert, in coordination with Mayor Torsten Burmester, even imposed a budget freeze on the city administration. At the last council meeting, the draft resolution to permanently expand the cycle path was not discussed, which will result in further delays. It should be noted that the running costs of the temporary cycle path are considered prohibitive in the current budget situation.
Planned investments in cycling
However, despite the dismantling measures, the city of Cologne plans to set up a permanent cycle path in the future at the site of the current temporary structure. The provisional cycle route has proven to work well in terms of traffic, as the five meter wide two-way cycle path has shown positive results. After a political decision, the necessary preparations such as subsoil investigations should now be started.
Almost 1.6 million euros are available in the budget for the new cycle path, whose construction is expected to take around three months. It now remains to be seen how quickly policymakers can take the necessary steps to implement this project. The dismantling of the temporary cycle path could therefore only be the first step on the way to improved cycling infrastructure in Cologne.
While the dismantling of the Rheinuferstrasse may be disappointing for many cyclists, there remains hope that the future of cycling in Cologne will be sustainably secured through the planned investments in cycle paths. It shows that the city is not only interested in short-term solutions, but also has the foresight to strive for long-term improvements in cycling.