A touch of Copenhagen in Wessling

Created: 08/26/2022, 09:03

By: Hanna von Prittwitz

Waiting at the traffic light is much more relaxed: A young cyclist uses one of the new grab handles in the municipality of Weßling along the state road between Weßling and Gilching.

© Hippmann

It's about a service, and it's a start: In Wessling there are handles for cyclists at three traffic lights along the main road between Gilching and Wessling.

This is convenient and equalizes the cycle current.

Wessling

– When it comes to cycling, the community of Wessling is often at least one step ahead.

This is reflected, for example, in the figures for city cycling.

There, the people of Wessling led the field last year with 12.68 kilometers per inhabitant, ahead of the municipalities of Starnberg with 7.73 kilometers and Gauting with 7.22 kilometers.

This year, 405 participants from the community with around 5,500 inhabitants cycled a total of 91,626 kilometers.

The community is proud of that.

But there is still much more to be done in Wessling for cyclists.

The latest achievement are traffic light handles.

“The idea goes back to an initiative by the cycling officers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and me as a mobility officer,” explains Green Party councilor Dr.

Gerhard Hippmann on request.

He is a die-hard cyclist himself.

Cyclists can now hold on to the rings while waiting.

On its website, the community speaks of "a little attention" to the many cyclists: "Because cycling makes the community mobile and worth living in." It is not for nothing that there are already two bicycle lanes in Weßling.

The building yard has now equipped the traffic lights along the pedestrian and cycle path on state road 2349 between Weßling and Gilching, as well as the masts at the entrance to the DLR.

"This makes it easier to stop and start at red lights and improve concentration on the traffic situation,"

Of course, traffic light handles are not a new invention.

The idea goes to the traffic planner Dr.

Jürgen Goettsche back.

With the help of sponsors, the municipalities of Marl and Wiesloch in North Rhine-Westphalia installed the first traffic light handles as early as 2000 on his advice.

These were yellow handles made of polyamide at a height of around 1.20 metres.

From there, the traffic light handles conquered Germany, so to speak.

In Cologne alone there are said to be hundreds – financed by specialist bike shops.

The handles in the municipality of Weßling are not yellow, they are round metal handles.

Actually, traffic light running boards should also be attached on both sides of the traffic light to the DLR.

These are brackets that cyclists can hold on to, and they can put their foot on a bracket further down.

This makes it possible to remain seated with both hands on the handlebars while waiting.

This in turn makes it easier to start and is good for the flow of traffic with many cyclists.

And in winter, cyclists can still warm their hands in between.

These hangers can already be seen in numerous cities.

In cycling cities like Copenhagen (Denmark) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) of course anyway.

In the case of the state road between Gilching and Wessling, however, there are still problems with the minimum distance from the path to the state road.

According to the Weilheim State Building Authority, the distance should be 4.5 meters, but it is only 4.3 meters, explains Hippmann.

"That's why we decided on the retaining brackets." In the long term, however, running boards are also in prospect, at least for traffic lights in municipal areas.

"The background to the handles at the traffic lights is that the municipality of Weßling, as a member of the Working Group for Cycle-Friendly Municipalities in Bavaria (AGFK), is doing more than is absolutely necessary for cycling," explains Hippmann.

In this case, this is a service offer "with a touch of Copenhagen on the highest prioritized and most frequented everyday cycle path in the municipal area".