By Birgit Buerkner
Recently, people with disabilities parked in the handicapped parking lot behind the Deutsche Oper. Bicycle racks are now installed on the parking space, which is marked with two wheelchair signs.
Opera visitors and local residents are outraged: has the office canceled this parking lot on the corner of Zillestraße and Krumme Straße for bike parking options?
One thing is certain: With the new “Opera Route North”, the sections of both streets that border the opera house will become bicycle streets. Only residents are allowed to pass them. All parking spaces are gone. Even those for electric vehicles with charging stations, the pillars were simply masked.
View of Krumme Strasse to the right of the Deutsche Oper. The marking makes it unmistakably clear: This is now a bicycle road Photo: Sven Darmer
“I don’t think that’s okay. The handicapped parking lot was ideal for visitors to the opera,” says a resident of the BZ. “And more cyclists than before are now not on the road either.”
When asked about the BZ, the responsible city councilor of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf disagreed. Oliver Schruoffeneger (60, Greens): “It’s wrong that the interests of cycling are being pushed through here on the backs of other road users – electric car users and people with disabilities.”
It is correct: “The parking spaces for the electric charging station and the parking space for the disabled will each be moved by a few meters.” In addition, the visual relationships in the crossing area would be kept free by the installation of secure bicycle parking facilities.
The city council: “We know that there are problems with the synchronization of markings and signage, which can give the wrong impression that something will be omitted without replacement.” The residents remain skeptical, waiting until the curtain of the last act of renovation has fallen .