Ten years of planning were under way, now is under construction: The direct cycle path connection between Holzkirchen and Otterfing along the railway embankment is being tackled.
A surprise is emerging in terms of costs.
Otterfing / Holzkirchen
- Ten years were planned, so the last delay no longer hurts. The rainy August delayed the construction of the cycle path between Otterfing and Holzkirchen by a few more days. But now the excavators are rolling, the Teufelsgraben direct connection along the railway embankment is being tackled by Otterfinger. A surprise is emerging in terms of costs.
“It was a tough fight,” says Otterfings Mayor Michael Falkenhahn (SPD), “and a very long one.” Since 2011, the communities of Otterfing and Holzkirchen have been working on a direct bike connection between their two train stations. The decisive section over the Teufelsgraben is just under 1.5 kilometers long: tedious coordination with the railway and nature conservation authorities made the project a long hangover for years. Now finally nothing hangs anymore. If everything goes according to plan, the cyclists should still be able to ride the trail this year.
The company Strabag took over the order.
As Sissina Weber, spokeswoman for the Holzkirchen municipal administration responsible for the construction, announced on request, the initial meeting with the construction company took place on August 3rd.
The route was marked out in the last week of August and the earthworks began this week.
Two major construction phases are planned: The cycle path itself and the widening of the crossing aid on the Holzkirchner Nordspange (MB 9) - where the cycle path crosses the road towards Otterfinger Weg and the train station.
Schoolchildren and commuters should cycle to Holzkirchen faster and more safely
"This transition is safer than the difficult threading of the old cycle path at the McDonalds roundabout," says Falkenhahn. There the cycle path, which leads along the state road from Otterfing to Holzkirchen, ends very abruptly at the roundabout. “That is difficult to keep track of,” says the Otterfinger town hall chief. He likes the new way better because schoolchildren and commuters from Otterfing can get to Holzkirchen faster and more safely, to the BRB and to the secondary schools. "This creates an important connection to the Holzkirchen center," explains Falkenhahn. And the old cycle path will be preserved. "Otterfingers then have two options to come to Holzkirchen."
The new route is expressly intended to make everyday cycling more attractive. "I do hope that some commuters will switch to their bikes when they go to work with BRB or Meridian," says Falkenhahn. As a nice addition, he would like the MVG rental bike system, which some communities in the north of the district want to join with the help of the district (we reported). Last but not least, the Teufelsgraben-Passage functions as the first section of the direct bike connection Otterfing-Gmund - an ambitious project of the neighboring communities; last the first preferred streets were presented (we reported). This route is supposed to dock with the rapid cycle route, which the district of Munich is currently expanding to Sauerlach. "We want to get in touch with the people of Munich soon," says Falkenhahn; it's aboutto agree on a connection point at the district boundaries. In Otterfing, the Argeter Weg should come into question for this.
Attractive fast cycle paths are paved, which is also the plan for the Teufelsgraben cycle path.
Where it is used by agriculture, it is expanded to three meters, otherwise to 2.50 meters.
Lighting is not yet planned;
as a precaution, however, an empty pipe is also laid in order to be able to retrofit.
It is surprising that the construction of the direct connection will be significantly cheaper than feared.
According to information from the Holzkirchen town hall, total costs amount to 735,000 euros;
of this, government grants cover 221,000 euros.
Mayor Falkenhahn assumes that the Otterfing community will have to contribute a good 200,000 euros from its own resources.
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