Werbach/Böttigheim. At the district council meeting in May, the long-planned cycle path from Werbach to the neighboring town of Böttigheim in Lower Franconia. Böttigheim is part of the municipality of Neubrunn in the district of Würzburg. The nearly two-kilometer route should cost 800,000 euros. Ottmar Dürr, the outgoing Mayor of Werbach, is delighted: “The cycle path to Böttigheim has kept me busy for years. I am glad that the decision to build is now being taken at the end of my term of office.”
AdUnit Mobile_Pos2
AdUnit Content_1
At the border is the end
Dürr’s joy is shared by many who travel by bike. From Werbach, the way to Böttigheim is difficult to find away from the busy country road. And those who cycle from Böttigheim to Werbach also need local knowledge, patience and a strong spine. The cycle path, which is well paved on the Bavarian side, ends right on the border between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and leads into a dirt track. Meadow flowers are blooming, but the bike can hardly go any further. In times of a necessary ecological turnaround in traffic, this is reminiscent of a prankster.
The municipality of Neubrunn (district of Würzburg) recognized the signs of the times ten years ago and upgraded a dirt road in the direction of Werbach to a paved cycle path. The municipal cycle path planning was agreed with the parties involved on the Baden-Württemberg side and was also a topic at exchange meetings between the district of Würzburg and the Main-Tauber district.
Different promotion
more on the subject
On the Bavarian side, there was funding for the project from the Würzburg district, the Würzburg recreational and hiking area association and the Lower Franconian Office for Rural Development (ALE). “In total, the cycle path must have cost us around 130,000 euros at the time,” remembers Peter Klingler, the second mayor of the market town of Neubrunn.
Klingler has always lived in Böttigheim and has been a member of the municipal council since 1990. As a passionate cyclist, he is convinced: “Böttigheim and Neubrunn must be connected to the national network of cycle paths and to the Main Cycle Path. That would upgrade Böttigheim and open it up better for tourists as part of the ‘Lovely Tauber Valley’. And for our citizens Werbach and Tauberbischofsheim then much easier to reach by bike.”
Bad bus connection
Since there is only one bus connection across the national border per day, that would not be a luxury. A woman from Böttigheim put it in a nutshell: “I go to Tauberbischofsheim to go shopping anyway and have my doctors there. Of course I would sometimes leave the car at home and do it all by bike”.
The cycle path has existed on the Böttigheimer side for a long time, but in Werbach the gap closure was missing. As so often, it was the money. And private property owners did not want to sell their land for the construction of cycle paths. The road construction authority had to do a lot of persuading over the years so that the Main-Tauber district could purchase the land. “The municipality of Werbach was simply not in a position to do this financially,” admits Werbach Mayor Ottmar Dürr.
The land purchases have now been completed, but the project is still not a done deal. Environmental organizations and other representatives of public interests must be heard. An ecologist must draw up a landscape conservation plan. After all, the planned cycle path route leads through a flora-fauna-habitat (FFH) area that is particularly protected by nature conservation law. It is undisputed that cycling is good for the environment, climate and health. Nevertheless, the construction of cycle paths sometimes represents a sensitive intervention in natural habitats and cultural landscapes.
district council decides
The district council of the Main-Tauber district will vote on May 24th on whether the gap in the cycle path network between the Würzburg area and the Tauber valley can be closed from the Baden side. In the district budget for 2023, 750,000 euros are planned for the project, and a further 50,000 euros are planned for 2024. Thanks to funding under the State Municipal Transport Financing Act (LGVFG) and the federal funding program “Stadt und Land” (City and Country) a subsidy of 90 percent of the construction and land acquisition costs is possible. Construction could begin in late summer and be completed as early as November.
After all, these would be good prospects for 2024, for everyday traffic as well as for tourism. Last Tuesday, Rebecca Harms, chairwoman of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC), presented the results of the nationwide “bicycle climate test”: “Some large cities have invested and were able to improve. In the countryside, on the other hand, not much is happening, although there is great potential and many opportunities to promote cycling here too.”
use potential
For Werbach and Böttigheim, at least, this potential lay idle for many years. That may change this year if the Main-Tauber district moves along. The district of Würzburg has delivered. The only thing missing on the Bavarian side is the signage for the cycle path. This was already planned after the expansion, but should only be implemented when the cycle path connection is continuous.
#Bike #path #ends
