From Hildburg Bruns
Court gossip for Green Senator Bettina Jarasch (53)! The Berlin administrative court has spoken a word of power: The partial blocking of Friedrichstrasse for motor vehicles is ILLEGAL!
Means: Prohibition signs away! Transport striped barges away! Scratch off the yellow stripes of the wheel track!
“I burst into tears of joy,” says wine merchant Anja Schröder (45), who had gone to court as the front woman for the angry residents. “The entire Friedrichstraße is at the end. It has lost its radiance,” says the businesswoman.
Therefore the court agreed with her:
► The attempt to calm traffic lasted until October 31, 2021 – the prohibition signs stayed up anyway!
► Another road closure would have required a concrete danger – that is not the case! Instead, the traffic administration argued with a better quality of stay. Not enough justification.
► Although the Mitte district is working on permanently blocking the stretch of road for motor vehicle traffic (“partial de-designation”) – this procedure is not expected to be completed until spring 2023.
Despite the judge’s scolding, the responsible traffic senator Jarasch insisted on Tuesday to permanently transform Friedrichstrasse into a promenade. She is currently examining whether her Senate administration is now filing a complaint against the court decision.
Traffic Senator Bettina Jarasch (53, Greens) wants to oust cars from a stretch of Friedrichstrasse. Tuesday there was a clap from the judges Photo: DAVIDS/Sven Darmer
If so, the signs and barges would have to remain standing at least until the next instance, the Higher Administrative Court, has decided. If not, cars could roll through the 500-meter restricted zone (Leipziger to Französische Straße) again in two weeks.
For Berlin’s ruler Franziska Giffey (44, SPD) it is very clear: “A verdict has now been made and I expect it to be implemented quickly.” Live she could not write this in her senator Jarasch Tuesday’s task book – the Green politician is staying on holiday.
Berlin’s ruler Franziska Giffey (SPD) wants the court ruling to be implemented quickly Photo: DAVIDS/Michael Schulz
Giffey continued: “I know that many business people will be very grateful for this verdict.” And further: “It is not nice when the country is condemned for something that it obviously did not do correctly.”
What does the government demand? “A good and clever overall concept. I am in favor of making Friedrichstrasse an attractive street that also does justice to the character of a global metropolis.” It is not enough simply to put something there. There are now flower beds, benches, greenhouses, etc. on the sidewalk and asphalt.
Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz (57, independent) demands: “In future concepts, it is all the more important to involve tradespeople well and to keep a close eye on their situation and needs.”
And Yarash? She says: “I want a good, permanent solution as a pedestrian zone. Friedrichstrasse will become a pedestrian zone. And Charlottenstraße, the parallel street, will become a bicycle street. The procedure for the final conversion and the establishment of a bicycle street will continue regardless of the court decision.”
Jarasch in the RBB “Abendschau”: “I’m not sure if Franziska Giffey understood exactly what this judgment was about”. The only thing that matters is that too much time has elapsed for the court between the end of the traffic test and the final conversion into a pedestrian zone, said the Greens politician. Is that an election campaign?
Jarasch: “So I’m responsible for the traffic turnaround in this Senate.” In addition, in the coalition negotiations there was an agreement on what should become of Friedrichstrasse. “And this process continues. It’s all about the way to get there. And Ms. Giffey knows that too.”