Bavarian Minister of Transport presents feasibility study for first cycling highway in County of Munich

Cycling highways are a quick and environmentally-friendly alternative to enable a reduction in the load from commuter traffic in the Munich agglomeration. The first pilot track with a length of 13 kilometres will lead cyclists from the city limits of Munich to Garching and Unterschließheim and viceversa. This was announced by Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior and Transport Joachim Herrmann the 29th of January 2018 jointly with Munich’s District Administrator Christoph Göbel at a press conference in the District Office of Munich. According to Herrmann, “Cycling is far more than a hobby. Especially in agglomerations it is a quick and environmentally-friendly alternative to cars. In times of emission scandals and high congestion in agglomerations we see extending the cycling infrastructure as an opportunity”. Costs for the cycling highway are estimated at € 34 Mio. The analysis claims that about 8000 cyclists will profit each day from the new track.

Herrmann sees the extension of cycling infrastructure as one of the many measures to be put in place for sustainable mobility: “Especially where there are high volumes of commuters, we aim for a high number of cyclists in daily transport. For this, we will extend the cycling lane network for it to be more attractive.” Cyclist will be able to use a 4m wide track in both directions for more than half of the distance in the North of Munich in the future. The advantage in speed and time needed for covering the distance is not from the width of the lane, but from the fact that the track does not have any intersection for 90% of its length. Additionally, separating the walking and cycling tracks increases safety.

The Free State of Bavaria invests in more actions than “just” the construction of cycling highways. Until 2025, Minister Herrmann aims to achieve a cycling modal share of 20% of all trips in Bavaria, based on the “Cycling programme Bavaria 2025”. To achieve this goal, Bavaria is going to invest in the overall cycling lane network. A yearly sum of €40 million from federal and state resources are scheduled for the maintenance and extension of the cycling lane network alongside federal and state roads. Additionally, the Free State of Bavaria is supporting its municipalities in the construction of cycling lanes. Right now, Bavaria funds the construction of a walking and cycling path with € 440,000 alongside the County Road M14 between Faistenhaar and Dürnnhaar at Aying, for example.

Source: story first published on 29th of January 2018 by https://nationaler-radverkehrsplan.de/de/aktuell/nachrichten/verkehrsmi…