Permanent arrangement City council finally closes the city ring for car traffic
The test phase is finished: The city of Bonn has permanently cut off the city ring for motorists. However, some are confused by the new regulation.
Since this Wednesday, the test phase with an "extended city ring" along the Hofgarten has officially ended. A resolution passed by a narrow majority of the council to cut off the city ring permanently for motorists is in force.
The city has not fully implemented the wishes of politicians by the deadline. However, motorists will have to observe the left-hand driving rule at the corner of Martinsplatz and Neutor. This means that they are no longer allowed to drive through Wesselstraße in the direction of the main railway station or to the north of Bonn. There are exceptions for residents and delivery staff, but at the end of Wesselstraße they must turn into the reversed one-way street (Maximilianstraße) towards Kaiserplatz.
This means that cars coming from Kaiserstraße no longer have to drive the abolished loop over Nassestraße. However, they are no longer allowed to drive through Maximilianstraße in a northerly direction. Furthermore, only buses and cyclists are allowed to use Kaiserstraße out of the city via a so-called environmental lane.
On Wednesday some drivers were confused whether to ignore the changes or the new traffic rules and continued to drive through to the main station. City vice-spokesman Marc Hoffmann said: "It usually takes a few days for changes in traffic regulations to be implemented". However, there is hardly any traffic at the moment anyway due to the temporary closures of shops.
Hoffmann said that the city will fully implement the council's decision in the coming days. A new traffic sign on the Belderberg now indicates that all motorized traffic may turn into Rathausgasse.
Bike lane will not be available until next Monday
What is still missing: the cycle path on the street Am Hof in front of the university, which was decided by the politicians and on which cyclists will in future be able to cycle to the market place and towards the banks of the Rhine. According to Hoffmann, the municipal building yard was still busy on Wednesday removing some unevenness in front of the university at the height of Fürstenstraße, "because the roadway there is in a very bad condition“.
On Friday, the city would remove markings and, starting next Monday, mark the cycle path. "In the future, there will be an extra-wide lane in the direction of the main station, which will be used by buses, other motor vehicles and cyclists. In the opposite direction of the Rhine, a protective strip for cyclists will be created", Hoffmann explained. The bus drivers of the public utilities will therefore no longer have their own lane on this section. The road will serve many bus lines as access to the central bus station. However, the city is expecting a decrease in motorised traffic in front of the university due to the transit ban. Taxis coming from the south can also no longer drive through to the central bus station. "We are not enthusiastic. Either we have to let passengers out at Maximilianstraße or take more expensive detours," said Georgios Avgoustis of the taxi cooperative.
(Original text: Philipp Königs / Translation: Mareike Graepel)
