From BZ/dpa
In a few hours, traffic will be rolling again on a section of Friedrichstrasse in Berlin that has been car-free for more than two years – at least for a while.
At midnight on Wednesday night, the blocking of cars between French and Leipziger Strasse will be lifted, the environment and mobility administration announced on Tuesday when asked by the dpa. Prior to this, seating, planting, showcases and the marking of a cycle path had been removed from the street.
The Senate and the Mitte district office are thus following a decision by the administrative court, which declared the blocking illegal on October 24th. Senator Bettina Jarasch (Greens) refrained from appealing the decision to the Higher Administrative Court, but made it clear that she was sticking to her plans for a car-free promenade on Friedrichstrasse.
To this end, the district office is in the process of converting the street into a pedestrian zone, which should be completed by the end of the year. Jarasch recently explained that car traffic would then be permanently removed from Friedrichstrasse and a new urban space created there. Since Monday, bicycle traffic has been running parallel to Charlottenstraße, which is now a bicycle street.
Wine merchant won process
The Friedrichstrasse traffic test, which has always been controversial, began in August 2020. Since then, cars have been taboo on the section in question, which has many shops, including the Galeries Lafayette department store. However, the hoped-for upswing for the shopping street – which at times overtook the Ku’damm, but later had increasing problems – has not materialized so far.
A wine merchant with a shop in Charlottenstrasse had complained about the ongoing closure. She did not want to accept that no cars were allowed to drive on Friedrichstrasse, even though the year-long traffic trial ended in October 2021.
The administrative court agreed and found that there was no legal basis for the blocking in the road traffic regulations. Authorities could restrict or ban the use of certain routes to improve road safety, but not to improve the quality of life.