Thursday, 7 August
Battle over Kantstraße bike lane heats up
A protected bike lane on Kantstraße could soon be scrapped, and not everyone is convinced by the official reason.
The Senate, led by CDU transport senator Ute Bonde, says the lane must go for safety reasons: emergency vehicles, specifically those with ladders, can’t reach the top floors of nearby buildings with the current street layout. The proposed solution? Let cars park along the curb again, squeeze bikes and buses into a shared lane, and put private vehicles back on the far-left track.
Critics, however, say the fire safety argument is a smokescreen. A growing coalition of cyclists, local businesses and green groups warn the changes would put riders at risk and roll back hard-won climate goals. An online petition to keep the current setup has already collected over 3,000 signatures.
“This isn’t the direction we should be going,” said Stephanie Manz, who helped launch the petition. “We should be making it easier for people to switch to bikes, not harder.”
The German Environmental Aid group (DUH) has also weighed in, calling the Senate’s plan illegal and contrary to the city’s own Mobility Act, which gives priority to buses and bikes on certain corridors, like Kantstraße. The group says it’s ready to back a legal challenge if the rollback goes ahead.
The Senate, for its part, insists it’s on solid legal ground. Talks with the district are ongoing, and CDU state secretary Arne Herz says an agreement could come “very soon.” If not, the Senate might take control of the project altogether.
In the meantime, workers are marking the eastern stretch of the Kantstraße bike lane for permanent installation, or at least until someone tells them to stop.
