Cologne's city planners have proposed a pilot program that could alter a major north-south thoroughfare for cars. It's a nod toward cyclists that critics say literally doesn't go far enough.
Image: DW/M. Gagnon
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Opened as Cologne's grand boulevard in 1886, the Ring has become the clogged artery that connects the city's north and south to the heart of downtown. Switching names 10 times over 7.5 kilometers (4.5 miles), it's an aggressively hectic roadway that is disorienting for pedestrians, frustrating for drivers and dangerous for cyclists.
On much of the Ring, cyclists get less than a meter (3.3 feet) of designated space. Tires catch on the loose red bricks laid to mark the bike lane or slide over piles of muddy leaves that accumulate year-round in the drippy western city. When it's not blocked by delivery vehicles, the bike lane is crisscrossed by suits on the way to work and parents pushing baby strollers, and at various points stepped into by servers at sidewalk cafes and tourists taking selfies.
Now Cologne's transit office is pledging to do something about that — at least on one heavily trafficked stretch of the Ring between Friesenplatz and Zülpicher Platz that is especially bad for biking.
It's a start
The office has proposed a pilot program to close off one lane of traffic in each direction to cars on a section of the Ring and open it up to cyclists, which would also broaden the sidewalks for pedestrians. Starting in 2018 and likely to last a year or more, cyclists would get 2.5 meters of pavement previously designated for cars and the city would remove 43 parking places and increase the visibility of designated bike lanes with signage and road painting.
"We are seeking measures that can be quickly put into place and in parallel planning the conversion of the entire city," Klaus Harzendorf, who heads Cologne's streets and transit department, said when announcing the program last week.
Cyclists would welcome nearly any improvements in Cologne, which ranked 37th out of 39 German cities in its size category in a poll by the national cycling association. The survey asked respondents 12 questions about cycling in their cities, including the cleanliness of bike lanes, harmonization of traffic signals and parking. Cologne scored especially poorly on lane width and surface material,the amount of obstacles for bikersand the general feeling of security on two wheels.
"It's certainly a step forward," said Reinhold Goss (pictured at top), who founded the #RingFrei initiative to increase the options for nonautomotive mobility on the road. "It's just going way too slowly and hesitantly. You worry that they could go back on it."
For four hours in September, #RingFrei demonstrated a more bikeable roadImage: Reinhold Goss
(Insufficiently) 'radical plans'
Though the idea received generally uncritical coverage, an article written by Robert Baumanns warned on the front page of the daily newspaper Express that "radical plans will shut drivers out."
In an op-ed, Baumanns accused the administration of "advancing on downtown with a crowbar" with such plans as lowering speed limits and converting some non-Ring roads into cycling streets for two-way two-wheeled traffic, even if that means reducing parking.
Local cycling advocates maintain that the city is still not doing enough to tame the Ring and have called the test zone far too short.
"What's that? Four hundred meters?" Goss said just north of the planned trial area — which officially measures about 350 meters — at an intersection where cars turned right across cyclists and pedestrians filled the bike lanes because drivers clogged the crosswalks.
Goss said the plan was less a pilot program than "an alibi" that allows city planners to say they are making progress on helping Cologne's cyclists, 1,880 of whom were injured last year.
"Public transit is overwhelmed like in all of Europe, so they're trying to get people to walk or bike for short trips, but you have to offer the infrastructure," Goss said.
Comprising the Greens, Social Democrats and Left party, a majority on the city council's transit committee suggested that planners lengthen the pilot program's zone 600 meters to Friesenplatz, which would cover the entirety of one of the most trafficked sections of the Ring. The committee's center-right parties, the Christian Democrats and liberal Free Democrats, oppose extending the proposal. The committee will next debate the issue on December 5 before it moves to the full council for a vote.
Goss said there was no reason for cycle-safety measures to be so controversial.
"We're not asking them to build anything," he said. "We're asking them to paint the streets."
For now, he said, "we've got this segment — at least half of it."
Germany from A to Z: Cologne
We are taking a tour through Germany and every week we will introduce you to a new town, guided by the alphabet. This time K takes us to Köln or Cologne, a city of art, culture and carnival.
Image: Imago/J. Tack
Cologne Cathedral - literally a huge landmark
It is one of the most popular travel destinations in Germany: before the coronavirus pandemic some 20,000 people visited it — every day. Cologne Cathedral is over 700 years old, and it took just as many more years to build it in the first place. This Gothic architecture masterpiece has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kusch
Old town center — a modern historical place
Cologne's old town center was almost completely destroyed during World War II. Many historical house fronts were reconstructed on functional 1960s buildings, like the Fischmarkt pictured here. In the alleyways of the old town center you'll find a huge choice of cosy taverns, restaurants and brewery houses.
Image: Jens Korte/KölnTourismus GmbH
Home of traditional Kölsch beer
People here enjoy their glass of Kölsch beer. This can only be brewed in Cologne and its environs. It is served in a "Kölschstange" — a tall, narrow 0.2 liter glass. It is best accompanied by hearty local specialties like "Himmel und Äad" - the local dialect for heaven and earth — a dish that combines mashed potato, apple sauce and blood sausage.
Image: Privatbrauerei Gaffel
Museums — from ancient to present times
Art and culture lovers have their work cut out for them in Cologne as there are a myriad of galleries and exhibitions to choose from. The Museum Ludwig for instance presents contemporary art as well as pop art and expressionistic works. In Cologne everyone will find "their" museum as they cover everything from Roman times to technology and chocolate.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Churches — a testimony to former glory
Cologne in the Middle Ages was the German speaking world's biggest city and an important ecclesiastical center. To this day many sacral buildings bear witness to Cologne's former religious significance including 12 Romanesque churches. St. Maria im Kapitol is the largest of them and is located on the site of an ancient Roman Capitoline temple. The present church was built in the 11th century.
Image: Jens Korte/KölnTourismus GmbH
Rheinpark — a big playground
Opposite the Cathedral, on the shores of the Rhine you find the 40 hectare Rheinpark. It was created in 1912 and in 2007 it was named Germany's best park. Extensive lawns in the summer serve as playgrounds for football matches and BBQ evenings. The Rhine cable cars take you from here across the river to Cologne Zoo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Carnival — Cologne's fifth season
For one week every year, the city is an exceptional place to be — Cologne's Carnival is one of the biggest and best-known street carnivals in the world. Important words to know are "Alaaf" - a carnival greeting, which can be shouted out at all times and "Kamelle" - the sweet treats thrown during the street parades. Cologne wants to celebrate carnival in 2021 despite the coronavirus epidemic.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Trade fairs — from Gamescom to Art Cologne
Cologne is known globally as a trade fair city — at Gamescom, the annual fair for computer and video games, companies from around the world present new hard- and software. Artworks for all budgets are sold and exhibited at Art Cologne — the world's oldest art fair. Photokina, one of the world's most important photography trade fairs, takes place every two years.
Image: Koelnmesse GmbH
Open-minded and welcoming
Metropolitan and tolerant — that's what Cologne stands for — so no surprise that the city on the Rhine is a gay stronghold. Once a year ColognePride takes place, an event to support the rights of gay and transgender people — the biggest of its kind in Europe. The party highlight is the Christopher Street Day parade — which this year has been postponed until autumn due to the coronavirus crisis.
Image: picture alliance/R. Goldmann
Rhine — trade route and recreation
One of Cologne's many bonuses' is its river location - and what a wonderful waterway it is! The Rhine is Germany's longest river. Romans knew how convenient the location was when they founded a settlement here in 19 BC. Take an excursion on a river boat to fully appreciate the cityscape of the old town center with the cathedral — or why not grab a paddle and row out onto the river yourself?
