Füssen - The city administration wants to build its own bike path between the Lech bridge and the boat harbor.
She has now come one step closer to this goal.
Not only since the outbreak of the Corona crisis have there been repeated conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists on the Lechweg im Weidach.
But the number of day-trippers, which has risen sharply since the crisis, and the increased number of e-bike riders have made the problem even worse.
The city administration is therefore planning to build its own cycle path between the Lech bridge and the boat harbor.
She has now come one step closer to this goal.
Numerous complaints
The lawsuits haven't stopped for years.
Above all, passers-by who are on the road along the Lech, which is shared by cyclists and pedestrians, but only 2.5 meters wide, often complain about inconsiderate racing or e-bike riders.
It is said again and again that the situation is often extremely dangerous, especially for children.
Head of the office, Peter Hartl, says there are now numerous complaints.
“There are always problems,” says police chief Johannes Stoll from the Füssen police station in an interview with our newspaper.
There were no more accidents between the sports facilities and the boat harbor than on other routes.
But the close connection is actually a footpath, not a shared walking and cycling path.
That means that cyclists are allowed to use the path, explains Stoll.
"But pedestrians are particularly protected, cyclists have to be particularly careful and are only allowed to drive past them slowly." But that doesn't always work.
1600 cyclists per day
In addition, the piece belongs to the Forggenseeradweg and therefore more and more cyclists are on the way there.
According to Stoll, the most recent count, which was a few years ago, showed around 1,600 cyclists a day.
To alleviate the situation, the city administration is planning to build a 1.2 kilometer long and 2.5 to three meter wide cycle path west of the current pedestrian and cycle path.
In the future, this will only be available to pedestrians.
Both paths should also be clearly separated from each other structurally, for example by a green strip.
Negotiations are ongoing
The problem with this is that the areas required for the construction of cycle paths are not owned by the city. In total, the planned five-meter-wide route runs over 35 properties in the Weidach. In the town hall, however, they are confident that they will be able to come to an agreement with all property owners. At least at an information event in the “Haus der Gebirgsjäger” recently none of the residents refused to make their route area available, reports Hauptamtsleiter Hartl.
On the other hand, the city is willing to pay a lot of money to buy the land.
Accordingly, the purchase price is 35 euros per square meter.
Furthermore, the town hall assumes all ancillary costs incurred in connection with the purchase of the property.
In addition, the city promised, among other things, further back payments and compensation payments should a building permit be granted for the land in the next 15 years.
Development is currently not possible there, as the area is located in the landscape protection area (LSG) "Forggensee and surrounding lakes", as Hartl explained.
If one of the landowners does not want to sell, a long-term lease is also conceivable from the administration's point of view.
Alternative suggestions should be examined
First of all, alternative suggestions made by the residents should be examined.
Above all, this includes the idea of building a footbridge over the Lech at the level of the Hotel Sommer in order to connect the current route to the existing cycle path network on the southern bank of the Lech.
Cyclists should be encouraged to change the bank and to bypass the eye of the needle to the south.
This could make both the construction and the necessary land purchase superfluous.
Hartl doubts whether the city can actually save money as a result.
After all, the construction of the footbridge and the connection on the Schwangau side also cost money.
In addition, the Schwangau would have to agree to the project as well as the Lower Nature Conservation Authority.
In addition, it is questionable whether the path should not be expanded anyway.
The head of the main office also gives little chance of success to the suggestion to lead bicycle traffic via Weidachstraße to the boat harbor.
He assumes that the cyclists will continue to use the path on the Lech, he explained.
City wants to continue negotiations with owners
At the same time as examining the alternatives, the administration wants to continue negotiations with the owners and examine government funding opportunities.
According to Hartl, the first preliminary discussions have already taken place.
There have been positive signals.
In any case, the Füssen police support the construction of a separate cycle path in the Weidach.
“That serves traffic safety and would be a clean affair!” Emphasizes Johannes Stoll.
However, even a new cycle path will probably not be able to solve the fundamental problems in road traffic.
“We need to be with one another, not against one another,” is how the police officer describes the situation and appeals to all road users to be more considerate of one another.