However, the procedure can only be shortened under certain conditions.
Frankfurt – The city wants to build the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the railway tracks in Berkersheim as soon as possible. The magistrate wants to save itself a complex and, above all, lengthy planning approval procedure in order to instead “carry out its own building law procedure under the sovereignty of the city of Frankfurt am Main and thus significantly shorten the time until the start of construction”. The magistrate reported this to a request from the CDU parliamentary group in the city council. Whether the process step can actually be saved now also depends on the neighbors in Berkersheim.
The city is planning two routes via the S6 tracks
But first things first: Due to the expansion of the S6, the level crossing at Berkersheimer Bahnstraße was closed and dismantled. The capacity utilization on the four-track route would have meant that the barriers could only have been opened a few minutes per hour. However, farmers and many day trippers are dependent on the transition. In the future, a bus will also run from Nieder-Erlenbach via Berkersheim to the Preungesheim underground station. Therefore, the level crossing should be replaced.
The city not only wants to build an omega bridge for this purpose, which should span the tracks in a wide arc towards Bad Vilbel. She is also building a new pedestrian bridge right next to Berkersheimer Bahnstraße. Pedestrians and cyclists should be able to change sides on an approximately 120 meter long, once winding ramp – unlike the provisional footbridge from Deutsche Bahn. You will only need an elevator to get to the middle platform without barriers, explained project manager Jens Müller from the Office for Road Construction and Development (ASE) when he discussed the planning for the Omega Bridge in the local advisory board 10 (Berkersheim, Bonames , Eckenheim, Frankfurter Berg, Preungesheim).
So two bridges will be built in Berkersheim. A plan approval procedure is absolutely necessary for the Omega Bridge for bus and tractor traffic. “At least two years should be allowed for this, so that we won’t be able to start construction until the second half of the 2020s,” explains Michaela Kraft, head of the ASE.
Pure construction time is not shortened
This can be saved for the pedestrian bridge. However, this requires the consent of all those affected by the project. These are about the Deutsche Bahn, but also local residents.
If the city cannot reach an agreement with one of the parties involved, the city must obtain the building permit for the footbridge along with the planning approval process for the Omega Bridge, explains Kraft. Since it is uncertain whether all approvals can be obtained, the office does not want to comment on a timetable yet. It is therefore uncertain when construction of the pedestrian bridge can begin.
Either way, the start of construction will be preceded by a complex and lengthy planning phase. Since the costs exceed the EU threshold of currently 5.38 million euros, the plans would have to be put out to tender throughout Europe, explains Kraft. Soil reports, for example, cannot be dispensed with.
The city expects costs of twelve million euros. According to the railway crossing law, which was amended in 2021, the federal government, the state of Hesse and Deutsche Bahn shared the costs, explained Wolfgang Siefert, advisor to the traffic department head Stefan Majer (both Greens) in the local advisory board. The prerequisite is that the federal and state governments recognize that the bridges serve to cross the tracks.
