At its last meeting, the city council of the science city of Darmstadt decided that the Wilhelminenstraße cycle path should be redeveloped according to the current guidelines.
“The Wilhelminenstraße cycleway was approved in 2013 and implemented in 2015 as the first cycleway in Darmstadt. In today’s perspective, the cycle path no longer corresponds to the current goals and guidelines. Action must be taken to secure this axis, which is as popular with the people as it is important for the connection in and across the district of Bessungen, in the long term,” says Michael Kolmer, Head of the Mobility Department. “Now we will update them again. Currently it is possible to park on both sides between Heinrichstraße and Karlstraße. In the case of parking on both sides, the usable lane is only around 2.50 meters, taking into account a safety distance of 0.50 meters to parked vehicles. areas with parking on both sides, vehicle/bicycle traffic is only possible at alternative points (entrances). This does not correspond to today’s quality standards for a cycle road.”
Minimum width 3.5 meters plus safety distance
According to the quality standards and model solutions for the Hessian cycle network published by the state of Hesse in 2020, a minimum width of 3.50 meters is required for cycle paths plus a safety distance of 0.50 meters from parked vehicles. The “bicycle road practice guide” published in 2021 by the German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu) also stipulates a minimum width of 3.50 meters plus safety distances for cramped conditions, but recommends a standard width of four meters of usable lane. In the cycling strategy adopted in 2019, the science city of Darmstadt itself set a target width of four meters for cycle paths.
“With the introduction of parking management, the demand for parking on Wilhelminenstrasse has decreased, so that a new balance can be achieved between the required lane width and the availability of parking on both sides. You can therefore use relatively simple measures to improve the Wilhelminenstrasse, which is heavily used by cyclists, into a cycle path that matches your goals and the solutions and guidelines of the prevailing model,” adds Kolmer.
After the resigning, the cycle path will have the following section: 4.50 meters of roadway (formerly 3.50 metres), 0.75 meters of safety strips for parallel parking (formerly 0.00 metres), 2 meters of parking (formerly 1.80 metres).
The number of parking spaces north of Heinrichstraße remains unchanged.
Between Heinrichstrasse and Karlstrasse, the number of parking spaces will have to be roughly halved (from 63 to 29).
Implementation is scheduled for 2023.
(Text: PM Science City Darmstadt)
