Cherry blossom mania Frustration at the garage entrance to the Bonn Stadthaus
Bonn · Many visitors came to the Old Town by car on the weekend, and the parking garage was quickly full up. And on Sunday, one parking deck was closed. The cherry blossom can still be admired for quite some time.
Patience was required for anyone wanting to see the cherry blossom: On Sunday, visitors from out of town who had probably relied on their satnav, first ended up in a long queue in Maxstraße. One of the two parking decks in the town hall was closed.
On Saturday, both decks were open, but the situation was still tense because so many onlookers wanted to drive towards the old town. By noon, there was not a single free parking space left in the Stadthaus garage.
Normally, the lower P2 parking deck in the town hall is reserved for administrative staff and municipal vehicles, while parking deck 1 is always open to everyone. However, at weekends or during events with a high number of visitors (for example in the run-up to Christmas and at carnival), level 2 is opened and can additionally be used by all motorists. "This was also the case on Saturday," said Stadtwerke spokesperson Veronika John for the operator, Bonner City Parkraum GmbH. However, she said, the spaces were already taken within a very short time. "From 1 p.m. onwards, there was no longer a free parking bay," said John. "So there may have been traffic jams at the entrance".
The situation was different on Sunday: There, the area reserved for employees remained closed - although again all public spaces were taken from noon onwards. "Since there were 300 free spaces in the nearby Friedensplatz garage at the same time, parking deck 2 in the Stadthaus was not opened to general traffic," John explained.
Cherry blossom, flea market and street food festival attracted so many visitors to the old town that the city administration temporarily closed off the access roads to Breite Straße and Heerstraße. Those who still made it to the old town enjoyed the unique atmosphere.
But in the evening the residents' joy was limited. Rubbish bins were filled to the brim, with large quantities of food packaging and drinks cups piled up on the pavements and streets Claudia Krauss-Hoge from Dorotheenstraße is annoyed: "Once again, no one has thought about the rubbish. Why don’t they put out additional rubbish bags or extra bins?" she asks. "We residents are ashamed. The many tourists will also remember Bonn as a dirty city when they see the rubbish."
The cherry blossom will continue for some time. Until the end of next week, the natural spectacle will probably be on display. "Normally we assume that the cherry blossom is over after Easter," speculates a municipal gardener in a GA interview. "But I think the splendour will continue this week and next."
Original article: Gabriele ImmenkeppelTranslation: Jean Lennox
