Illegal painting in Bonn-Beuel Unknown people paint bicycle lanes on Siegburger Straße
Beuel · Smudged white paint, crooked stripes: this is what the cycle lane looks like that was painted on Siegburger Straße in Bonn-Beuel by unknown persons. The city, police and Straßen NRW are now investigating the consequences of the illegal painting.
Either someone was joking with his painting on Siegburger Straße or he (or she) fears for the safety of cyclists in this area. For a few days now, a curious cycle protection strip has been visible on the carriageway in the direction of the A59 subway. However, there is no official order for this. Everything therefore points to an action by an individual or a group.
Fabian Neuhaus (37) is one of the motorists who rolled towards the protective strip, which was applied overnight, so to speak, on Wednesday morning. The Neu-Vilicher was driving here at around 8 am with his partner to take her to work and then informed our editorial office. He did not think for a second that workers might have applied the protective striping - with an official order, but sloppily. "The stripe does not necessarily shine through its beauty or compliance with the normally applicable standards in terms of width, stroke length and so on. Rather, the appearance and the technical execution suggest that the cycle path was brushed onto the road in a night-and-fog action on one's own initiative," Neuhaus says. He emphasises, however, that the unknown person had made an effort to paint the pictograms and had probably used a stencil.
False cycle lane in Bonn-Beuel: execution looks bungling
In fact, the 100-metre-long protective lane is conspicuous because the workmanship is bungled: Some of the paint is smeared, the stripes are bent, the pictograms are faulty. When asked by the GA, both authorities confirm that no worker, for example on behalf of the city or the state enterprise Straßen NRW, is responsible for this. Equally curious: the city and Straßen NRW both point out that they are responsible for the construction of the section in question.
For Straßen NRW, Nilgün Ulbrich from the central communications department in Gelsenkirchen also points out that there is a combined footpath and cycle path on Siegburger Straße in the direction of Bonn city centre, i.e. on the opposite side to the strip that has now been painted on. Therefore, there is no cycle protection strip in the direction of the A59.
In addition, Straßen NRW and the city now want to monitor the area: For example, with regard to the question of whether the white paint is washed out by rain. If necessary, the city has indicated, the asphalt will have to be milled off. And the responsible road maintenance department of Straßen NRW will also have a look at the marking. Both authorities are not aware that markings have already been painted on in the area of responsibility of the city and of Straßen NRW.
No acute danger from painted cycle lanes in Beuel
The Bonn police are also examining the "new" protective lane after receiving an enquiry from our editorial team. There is currently no acute danger. According to police spokesman Simon Rott, this would be the case if the marking caused road users to stop.
By the way, Neuhaus does not find the painting action funny. "On Wednesday, it was not impossible that splashes of paint would stick to the car's paintwork," he says. In addition, he suggests that the usual procedure be followed in the case of similar requests. This is possible, for example, with a citizens' motion in the Beuel district council.
(Original text: Rajkumar Mukherjee, Translation: Mareike Graepel)
