The traffic in Bonn Where and when there is congestion around Oxfordstraße

Bonn · At certain times of the day, there are always traffic jams on Oxfordstraße in Bonn. However, the city does not necessarily see the reason for this in the new environmental lane.

Oxfordstraße is particularly congested at rush hour.

Oxfordstraße is particularly congested at rush hour.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

In recent weeks, traffic has often backed up along Oxfordstraße. This not only annoys motorists, but also the buses of the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) have problems. According to the city, the current peaks are normal for the months of November and December, when there are known to be many cars on the road. The traffic jam is not necessarily the result of the new environmental lane. At least the data from the cycle counting stations, which have recently registered fewer cyclists in Bonn, indicate this.

In the meantime, anyone can easily measure traffic density: Map services like Google Maps access numerous data that mobile phone owners automatically send to the corporation (see "Measuring"). If you look at Bonn's rush-hour traffic, Oxfordstraße and side streets like Kölnstraße or Welschnonnenstraße turn red - so it's gridlocked here.

Drivers also report that they are waiting for a long time in Welschnonnenstraße in order to get onto Kennedybrücke or in the direction of the south of Bonn. It is noticeable that the evening traffic in particular causes congestion from 5 p.m. onwards: then it repeatedly backs up to Thomastraße via the roundabout at the old cemetery. There, it causes a complete gridlock because vehicles block the roundabout and then every direction is blocked, taxi drivers report. In the opposite direction, the traffic jams reach all the way over the Kennedy Bridge, and people also queue much longer in the side streets because traffic does not disperse. But there are traffic jams not only during rush hour: the important arterial road is also busy at midday, sometimes even more so than in the morning.

If you ask the people on the street, the cause is quickly identified: the new environmental lane, which since the middle of the year allows cars only one lane in the direction of Beuel, but gives cyclists and buses their own space. Previously, all traffic could flow in two lanes up to the Kennedy Bridge. The bridge was already a single lane, but many people turned right towards the south beforehand.

The number of bicycles using the environmental lane seems comparatively low, according to taxi drivers. If you look at the cycle counting point on Kennedy Bridge, there are sometimes spikes, sometimes drops, always heavily influenced by the weather. In October 2022, about 150,000 cyclists were counted in both directions, in 2021 it was just under 140,000. In September 2021, it was about 170,000, but this year only about 150,000.

The traffic in Bonn​: Oxfordstraße
Foto: GA/Google

City sees cause in winter months

Asked why the traffic is so sluggish at the moment, the city replies: "The cause is the seasonal increase in motorised private transport that can be observed in all cities. November and December are the busiest months." By setting up the environmental lanes, which also include the Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring, public transport and cycling are promoted.

For the time being, there is no solution to the traffic jams. Even if traffic lights were to be adjusted - with the "most efficient programmes" already running at peak times - nothing would be gained. "Congestion at junctions cannot be countered by changing the circuit, but only by reducing the traffic load," says Markus Schmitz from the press office. Intersections such as Oxfordstrasse and Welschnonnenstrasse can only be prioritised by a few seconds. "If you were to prioritise an approach here for longer, the result would be that traffic in non-prioritised approaches would collapse."

Original text: Nicolas Ottersbach

Translation: Jean Lennox

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