‘I’m very excited that a first detailed plan has already been drawn up,’ Sonja Haider is quoted as saying in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). She is, of course, talking about the much-heralded prospect of a cycle path (Radring) around Munich’s Old City (Altstadt).
Haider, a member of the city council for the environmental-focused ödp and a Radring activist, has every reason to be happy – it seems that by the end of 2021, the first part of Munich’s new Radring should be complete, and with it hopefully an enticing signpost of what the future of the city might look like.
After months of activists easily collecting sufficient signatures, in July 2019 the city council agreed with the people of Munich that they wanted a greener, more bike-focused city. The demands of activists came in the form of two petitions and both included huge numbers of signatures: one for a comprehensive rethink of the city’s whole cycle infrastructure; another supporting the Radring, a continuous, safe and convenient cycle path around the Altstadt.
The news on 15 October, as reported by the SZ (German) and other media, of these first ‘concrete plans for the cycle ring around the Altstadt’, is only the start. But it is a start.
Work will begin in summer 2020 on a stretch from near Blumenstraße to Sendlinger-Tor-Platz, with a path measuring at least 2.8 metres wide and – importantly – include a half-metre-wide security line keeping cars and bikes separate. In the process, 17 parking places will be removed (just 17? Doesn’t sound like many?).
Apparently, Munich’s municipal building department has been preparing work on the area since 2014, including improved cycling infrastructure. There appears, however, to be more negotiations to be worked through before the city council rubber-stamps the Blumenstraße–Sendlinger-Tor-Platz, plans, but at least we know that it appears progress is being made.