First one, then two, then three, then four: Offenbach gets the fourth bicycle street. And it becomes the focal point for commuters in the Rhine-Main area.
- In Offenbach Further cycle paths are planned in the Bike Offenbach project.
- Also connections to neighboring cities like Neu-Isenburg should come.
- Offenbach plays an important role in the cycle path network in the region.
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Offenbach – it was definitely not love at first sight: When the city first took Senefelderstrasse in 2018 Offenbacher Fahrradstrasse exclaimed, there was a lot of headwind. Opinions were divided, especially on the idiosyncratic marking. In the meantime, the city has improved and the prophecies of doom about the mark have fallen silent. “There was a learning process, now the problem has been solved better,” admits Planning Department Head Paul-Gerhard Weiß.
With von-Behringstrasse and Taunusstrasse, two more cycle roads have now been added in the city area. The next one is to follow in Luisenstrasse in 2021. “The conversion of Luisenstrasse should actually take place this year, but that doesn’t make sense at the moment because of the brisk construction activity,” says Weiß.
Exploring by bike: cycling officer Ivonne Gerdts, Neu-Isenburg’s mayor Herbert Hunkel, planning departmental Paul-Gerhard Weiß, Kelsterbach’s mayor Manfred Ockel and Ulrich Lemke from Bike Offenbach.
© Summer
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Bicycle roads: Offenbach has connections to neighboring cities
More bike lanes are to follow, so that in the future bike traffic will be much safer in all directions. This also includes the connection to the neighboring cities: Offenbach has a distribution function: Who, for example, from Hanau after Neu-Isenburg would like to ride a bike is also routed via Offenbach’s cycle road network. Expanding this is the prerequisite for all further connections.
During a joint bike tour, Planning Department Weiß met the mayors of Neu-Isenburg and Kelsterbach, Herbert Hunkel and Manfred Ockel, presented the cycle road network. “We have 4,000 commuters out every day Offenbach – I can well imagine that many people switch from cars to bikes when the paths are well laid out, ”says Hunkel. “We need a functioning network of main and secondary roads for bicycles through the region,” says Ockel, “for this we have to work closely together.”
Bicycle streets in and around Offenbach: Gravenbruch is getting a paved road
This is necessary because the existing connections still have direction Dreieich or Gravenbruch, there is definitely room for improvement. But the cycling officers Ivonne Gerdts and Manfred Ockel, who is also the managing director of Regional Park Society Rhein-Main-Südwest is, have good news: There are now, among other things, concrete plans for a bike connection in the direction Dreieich or Neu-Isenburg. Cyclists are to be guided south along Schumannstrasse, and at the city limits there is a cycle path that has yet to be built and runs parallel to Sprendlinger Landstrasse. In order to bypass the Geisfeld roundabout, a separate cycle route will be created in a westerly direction, which will then be supplemented from Neu-Isenburg.
Also in the direction Gravenbruch it should get easier: So far, a cycle path runs parallel to Dietzenbacher Straße in the direction of the waste-to-energy plant, but if you want to go to Gravenbruch, you have to turn onto gravel forest paths. “An asphalt path will be laid out, which guarantees easy progress,” says Hunkel. The tender for this is to take place this year, and construction is to start in 2021.
No lighting is planned for this forest path yet, but Ockel can report on a pilot project that also applies to the route Offenbach-Gravenbruch gives hope. “On the forest bike path between Frankfurt and Neu-Isenburg ten photovoltaic lights were installed on a test basis – they are switched on by radar for 30 seconds each time a bike drives past, ”says Ockel.
Offenbach: Bicycle streets should be illuminated without electricity
It has been shown that despite the dense canopy of leaves, no additional power supply is required for the lights. “Now we are waiting for a bat report,” he says. If this is also positive, the lighting would also be a way of increasing the attractiveness of the Offenbach route.
Also for the planned South Main expressway from Hanau to Frankfurt falls Offenbach a distributor role: A feasibility study financed by the state is to be put out to tender this year. “Finding a suitable route through Offenbach will be a challenging task,” says Weiß. Because the existing cycle path along the Main bank is not suitable as a quick connection. “This will remain a leisure cycle path,” says Ockel, “the path is already well used today with cyclists and pedestrians.” (Frank Sommer)
List of rubric lists: © Sommer
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