If all goes as planned, cyclists in Zurich (415,000 inhabitants) will soon no longer need to bypass the imposing central station or to maneuver between trolleybuses, cars and pedestrians to get from one side of the heart to the other. from the city. They will benefit from a motorway reserved for bicycles passing under the Hauptbahnof, the largest railway station in Suisse. Sunday, June 13, residents approved by referendum, more than 74%, an envelope of 16.3 million francs (15 million euros) to launch the site. Participation reached 57.5%.
“Ghost” tunnel
It is not a question of drilling a new pipe in the city center. But to adapt a tunnel 192 m long and 25 m wide “ghost”, dug in the early 1980s and … never put into service. Thought to be the golden age of all cars, the work was supposed to make it possible to link the A1 and A3 highways, passing under the center of the Swiss economic capital. It was abandoned as is. After transformation, by 2024, it will connect the quay of the Sihl river to Kazernenstrasse.
This resurrection, envisaged in 2012 as part of a bicycle Masterplan and postponed several times, is emblematic of a profound change. In September, during a citizens’ vote already, the people of Zurich voted for the creation of safe cycling routes, a network of around fifty kilometers of side streets that will be closed to motorized vehicles (residents and delivery people excepted). Two-wheelers will have priority at intersections. The municipality has ten years to set up this network, which will link the neighborhoods to the center and will also include peripherals.
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