By Gunnar Schupelius
The new mobility law focuses on bicycles, buses and pedestrians. The car is neglected, but it is and will remain the most important means of transport in the country, says Gunnar Schupelius.
As a rule, no new roads are to be built in Brandenburg, but cycle paths are. There will also be more bus and train connections. This is what the draft of a “mobility law” envisages, which was presented last week by Transport Minister Guido Beermann (CDU).
In the future, the car will “also play an important role in rural areas,” he said. But there is apparently no room for this “important role” in the draft law.
Brandenburg is known for its narrow, winding and dangerous country roads, many of which have not been adequately developed even 33 years after reunification. Major roads run through small towns and make life hell for local residents because there is no bypass. Many plans have been on hold for decades, and decisions are being dragged out and delayed.
Two examples from the Berlin area are particularly striking.
First, federal highway 158. It takes up all traffic between Lichtenberg and Marzahn-Hellersdorf and the Berliner Ring. It narrows and leads through the middle of Ahrensfelde (Barnim). Traffic comes to a standstill in both directions every day. “You can’t live there anymore,” says Mayor Wilfried Gehrke (CDU).
For 20 years, the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg fought over the financing of a bypass road. When they reached an agreement in 2011, the Federal Court of Auditors protested against the plans because the bypass was supposed to lead through an expensive trough. Since then the project has been on hold again.
The second example is Osdorfer Strasse, which runs south of Berlin from the B101 to Lichterfelde. While the B101 was expanded to four lanes, Osdorfer Strasse remained as it was in 1961. The lane is so narrow that hardly two vehicles can pass each other.
This road takes up all the traffic between Großbeeren and Berlin. More than 10,000 vehicles drive here every day. Actually, it should be closed, it’s so dangerous there. An alternative route has been planned for 21 years but has never been built.
Important and dangerous roads like the two mentioned are not considered in the new mobility law. This law was written by green and left-wing lobbyists who came together in the “Verkehrswende Brandenburg now” group, including Greenpeace, the radical BUND youth, the anti-car initiative “Changing Cities” and the Brandenburg student representatives.
Two years ago they collected 28,500 signatures for a traffic turnaround. That was enough for the state government to sit down with them in a “steering group”. This is how the mobility law came about, on this narrow basis, far from the majority, formulated by relevant activists. This is how the coalition of SPD, Greens and CDU wants to adopt it in the state parliament.
Everyone knows that outside of the city centers in Brandenburg you can neither get around by bike nor by bus, but only by train, if available, and otherwise exclusively by car.
It is the most important means of transport in the country and is neglected in the new mobility law. What shoud that?
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