From the BZ editorial team
At the Gendarmenmarkt it is getting cramped for cars, Charlottenstraße only for bicycles.
In the City East it will be even tighter for drivers in the future!
This autumn, Charlottenstrasse between Leipziger Strasse and Unter den Linden will become a bicycle lane rebuilt. City Councilor Almut Neumann (38, Greens): “Cars, trucks and motorcycles are only allowed to drive with a legitimate concern.”
Since Friedrichstrasse has been closed to motorists for almost two years over a distance of 450 meters (between French and Leipziger Strasse), the next step towards a “car-free inner city” is now taking place.
The district’s goal: The road should be made safer for cyclists.
► With large red markings at junctions, pictograms and the marking of the “accident-critical dooring area” – meaning car doors that suddenly open into the wheel lane.
► It should be made easier for pedestrians to cross at the intersections.
► In order to reduce through traffic, one-way streets will be arranged in opposite directions.
► Bicycle racks and parking spaces for e-scooters are provided on the road.
The conversion is being financed by the environmental administration of the Senate. Felix Reifschneider (44), transport policy spokesman for the FDP, predicts traffic chaos. “The fact that Charlottenstrasse is also to be fragmented and turned into converging one-way streets will lead to more chaos and traffic on site. The center of Berlin needs a new planning start.”