He slowly comes down the stairs from his apartment. At the front door he has to take a few more steps until he is on the sidewalk. "I often have to hold on to the wall," says Guting. Sometimes he lands on the sidewalk with a bit of bounce. He's worried that he might collide with a cyclist on the sidewalk. That has nearly happened twice now. Often he has asked bikers not to ride on the sidewalk. “But I haven’t received any positive reactions," he says.

Then he called the Road Services Department. I wondered if it would be possible to put up a sign saying "Cyclists Dismount”. The city civil engineering office, which is responsible for signs at construction sites, had responded that such a sign does not exist. But the sign really does exist. The press office sent an e-mail saying: "The city basically does not put up this kind of sign." And pointed out: "If a sidewalk is not designated for bicycle traffic, the bicycle must be pushed."

A visit to the location shows that there are plenty of people who do get off their bikes and walk, but also plenty who do not. Wolfgang Linden gets off his bike in this construction area and pushes it along. The 71-year-old says he also rides on the sidewalk from time to time, "as long as I don't endanger pedestrians," he says. "It's not about obeying rules, it's about consideration.” It also happens often enough that people walk on bicycle paths. "Everyone thinks they are the most important road user." A few minutes later an elderly man rides his bike on the sidewalk. Why didn't he get off? “It was more convenient," he says. "But I'm sure I'm not endangering anyone.”

Resident Guting says: “What’s really dangerous is some cyclists going past at high speeds." He's also contacted the ADFC, the cycling association and club for cyclists in Germany. T. Werner Böttcher, who is in charge of Bonn's traffic policies at the association, wrote in his reply: "If you block the road for cyclists, it is almost natural to expect them to go onto the sidewalk". But then cyclists should also show consideration for pedestrians. Guting is annoyed by those who don’t. He believes, "laws are for everyone.”

Böttcher makes an appeal to bikers. “Of course there is a big temptation for cyclists in places like this," he says. "But if there's a pedestrian there, we are not allowed to ride." He called for mutual consideration and understanding. This is something which Anne Grose would most likely agree with. The 68-year-old is involved in the Fuss association, which promotes the interests of pedestrians. It has local groups in many German cities, but not in Bonn. Grose is active in the Cologne group. "The cities were planned at the time to be car-friendly", she says. "The coexistence of pedestrians and cyclists is conflictual." She knows this from firsthand experience on her bike. It's almost impossible to pass someone on the narrow paths. Then the cyclists would switch to the sidewalk. Grose demands a reallocation of public space. "This would reduce the potential for conflict." However, pedestrians should not be put at a disadvantage, as they always are.

Anita Marabito is one of them. A few weeks ago she almost collided with a cyclist at the Sterntor. Marabito describes the incident as follows: She wanted to look at something in a shop window, so she took a step to the left and was almost knocked over by a cyclist who passed her on the left. "I was terribly frightened", she says on the phone. "I find this kind of speeding inconsiderate." Bike paths and pedestrian walkways should be separated, and anyone who is biking at a high speed should take the road. The 71-year-old has lived in the Netherlands for several years. She says the division of the bike and pedestrian pathways is much clearer there.

(Orig. text: Dennis Scherer / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)