Berlin announces plans for high-speed cycle route through city centre

Berlin has announced plans for a new high-speed bicycle route from Hönow to Spandau through the city centre.

It claims that bicycles should be able to reach their destination as quickly as cars on the new cycle route.

Eastern and western routes

The state-owned cycle planning company Infravelo said the route consists of a 23 kilometre “eastern route” (Hönow to Tiergarten S-Bahn station) and a “western route” (Tiergarten S-Bahn station to Spandau) of about 15 kilometres.

The approximately 38-kilometre-long East-West Route is to be completed by 2030, and individual sections could be opened before then. The journey time from one end to the other should be about 2.5 hours.

Bicycles should be able to reach their destination as quickly as cars on the new 38-kilometre-long East-West Route cycle route.

The total costs for the two parts of the route are estimated at around €58m. The planning approval procedure for the west route will start at the end of 2023 and for the east route at the beginning of 2024.

In a statement, the city said 6,700 car drivers are to be persuaded to switch to bicycles every day, and almost 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide are to be saved per year.

The route runs along Frankfurter Allee, Straße des 17 Juni and Heerstraße, among others. For its implementation, the number of car lanes between Tiergarten S-Bahn station and Brandenburg Gate are to be reduced from six to four. The parking spaces there are to be converted into a bicycle path. The number of lanes on Heerstrasse is also to be reduced in sections.