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A 3.6 km pop-up cycle path was built on Kantstrasse in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg to protect cyclists
Photo: Petra Schneider-Schmelzer / Petra Schneider / imago images
The Berlin administrative court has granted an urgent application against so-called pop-up cycle paths in the capital.
Due to "serious doubts about the legality" for the eight temporary cycle paths, the corresponding signs are now to be removed - the court obliged the traffic senate administration to do so, as can be read in a message from Monday.
The danger situation was not explained
The reason for the decision is that the prerequisites for setting up the additional cycling infrastructure were not in place.
Temporary cycle paths may only be ordered by the Senate Chancellery where the safety and traffic load indicate "a very specific risk situation" and the order is therefore absolutely necessary, according to the court.
The Senate Administration has not presented such a dangerous situation.
The pandemic could also not be used as an occasion for the orders, since it was not a matter of "traffic-related considerations".
When Senator Regine Günther (Greens) initiated the road markings in the corona crisis, she gave the reason to want to ensure system-relevant mobility in the pandemic.
Since the majority of Berliners do not have a car and the minimum distance on public transport can hardly be observed, they decided to set up additional cycling infrastructure by removing a lane of car traffic in many places.
20 percent of public transport drivers switched to bicycles
Temporary cycle paths have been created in many German cities.
Berlin was the first, eight temporary bike paths were created here.
The basic idea was that people should keep a distance from one another - at least 1.50 meters - so as not to be infected with the new virus and the conventional cycle paths are insufficient.
Especially not, because more people got on their bikes than usual during the crisis. In the meantime, 20 percent of the usual public transport passengers have switched, shows a mobility report commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education.
Most of the temporary cycle paths in Berlin are to remain in place after the crisis.
This is possible because they are "required by the Mobility Act anyway," explains Felix Weisbrich, the head of the road and green space office in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district.
To what extent the order of the court will have an effect in the meantime remains to be seen: An appeal can now be made to the decision to remove the cycle paths at the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
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len / sae / cfm / dpa
