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Munich's pop-up cycle paths like here at Isartor have to give way to car traffic at the beginning of November
Photo: Overstreet / imago images
Bicycle lane instead of car lane: Several German cities followed this recipe at the beginning of the corona pandemic, they responded to the increasing bicycle traffic.
In many places, commuters preferred to get on their bikes instead of buses or trains in order to minimize the risk of infection, and at times the bike even replaced the car as the most important means of transport.
Munich also set up several such cycle paths, including on Rosenheimer Strasse, Zweibrückenstrasse and Gabelsbergerstrasse.
At the beginning of November, however, the cycle paths have to be dismantled again, the Munich city council decided.
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The cycle lanes were set up as a traffic test, which ends on October 31st.
The bicycle club ADFC, but also the Greens wanted to keep the cycle paths.
However, their coalition partner in the town hall, the SPD, voted on Wednesday together with the CSU and FDP to remove the temporary bicycle lanes.
Munich's second mayor Katrin Habenschaden (Greens) criticized that the decision contradicted the interests of the population.
A successful referendum on bicycle policy and the municipal elections in March showed that Munich's people had great desire for a better bicycle infrastructure.
ADAC welcomes the dismantling of the cycle lanes
"While other major European cities are implementing the traffic turnaround in a hurry, there is no political will in Munich for a few kilometers of cycle paths," said Habenschaden.
"With this despondency we will not solve either the traffic or the climate problems in our city."
In addition, in an evaluation, not only cyclists, but also the Munich Transport Company, the police and the district committees rated the traffic attempt positively, according to Habenschaden.
It had been agreed from the start that the cycle paths would disappear again at the end of October, the SPD justified its stance.
It is now being investigated where such traces may be permanently installed in the coming year.
The automobile club ADAC welcomes the decision.
"It is good for Munich that the cycle paths are being dismantled again," says Alexander Kreipl, transport policy spokesman for ADAC Südbayern.
"From the beginning it was said that they wanted to try out the bike paths and then evaluate them, we think that's good," said Kreipl.
Despite the increasing number of corona infections, he sees no point in maintaining the cycle lanes, because the picture in Munich is currently the same as in previous years: "The weather is getting worse and fewer people are cycling. Whether the cycle paths are despite the increasing numbers of infections would be useful is therefore questionable, "says Kreipl.
Because many people also switched to cars for fear of infection, especially in bad weather.
And then, according to the ADAC spokesman, the pop-up cycle paths would only worsen the congestion problems.
According to a data analysis by SPIEGEL, this is not necessarily the case.
For example, on Kapuzinerstraße in Munich - a previously four-lane access to the center - one car lane was converted into a cycle lane in 2013.
However, this did not turn the street into a traffic jam for drivers.
The traffic flowed there by 0.5 to 0.7 km / h slower than in 2012 - according to the data analysis, however, this effect was observed throughout Munich.
Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., traffic in half of the streets of the Bavarian capital flows more slowly than in Kapuzinerstraße, although the traffic there has actually increased slightly despite the renovation.
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