Tuesday 16, April
Expansion halted on Berlin’s bus lane network
Over recent years, the development of Berlin’s bus lane network has come to a standstill, and further expansion is unlikely in the foreseeable future. In fact, the network is expected to shrink, with designated bus lane markings to be removed from roads across the city.
According to State Secretary Claudia Elif Stutz (CDU), currently, the addition of a single new bus lane, which will be located on Ollenhauerstrasse in Reinickendorf, is the only plan in the works for Berlin. What’s more, 7 existing bus lanes in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Mitte, Spandau, Tempelhof-Schöneberg and Steglitz-Zehlendorf are at risk of being removed.
So what’s behind the standstill? In typical German bureaucratic style, the process of implementing new bus lanes is caught up in a complicated web of red tape. Many of the hurdles are the result of an August 2022 case in which the Administrative Court ruled in favour of Zehlendorf residents, who had lodged an objection against a bus lane planned for a section of Clayallee, between Argentinische Allee and Riemeisterstrasse. Residents argued that disruption of regular traffic flow (the type that would result from the implementation of a new bus lane) should only be ordered in “particularly dangerous situations”- such as traffic accidents or holiday events, etc.
The Clayallee ruling marked the beginning of the current standstill situation. In March of last year, the Senate listed 21 bus lane development projects on busy roads like Britzer Damm in Neukölln and Brunsbütteler Damm in Spandau, which have been ordered but not implemented.
Source: Berliner Zeitung
