Hamburg Started Undoing Dangerous Eyesores (3) - Less Cycle Tracks

Hamburg startet Abbau von Gefahrenstellen (3) - Weniger Radwege

Steinstraße / Lange Mühren Nov. 2010 avoiding conflict with pedestrians
Steinstraße / Lange Mühren im November 2010: Konfliktvermeideung mit Fußgängerverkehr

Recently traffic management for cyclists in Steinstraße have been changed. At the KAUFHOF department store and the tax office building the very narrow cycle track has been closed. Cyclists in direction to Speersort and city hall are guided from an old cycle track onto the road lane without any alternative. Some parts of the cycle track are still visible at Jakobi church, the Hochbahn building and Speersort. The obligation to use them has been given up.

Steinstraße / Lange Mühren before renewal
Steinstraße / Lange Mühren vor Umbau: Fußgänger stauen sich auf dem Radweg

Steinstraße / Lange Mühren before renewalSteinstraße / Lange Mühren vor Umbau: Fußgänger stauen sich auf dem Radweg

Steinstraße / Lange Mühren before renewal
Steinstraße / Lange Mühren vor Umbau: Fußgänger auf dem Radweg

The bad cycle track caused heavy conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians like nearly no other cycle track in Hamburg. Giving up the cycle track is the consequence, but cycle promotion looks different than cycling with heavy car traffic on the road lanes. Doubling the cycle traffic proportion is a strong climate protection target of the city of Hamburg, but car drivers will not feel addressed to change onto a cycles without any cycle infrastructure like in Steinstraße now.

Former odd cycle track, narrow, lots of conflicts
Ehemaliger Radweg, schmal, viele Konflikte

Cool: Waste deposal exclusively for cyclists
Cool: Abfallbehälter exklusiv für Radfahrer

Conflicts on odd cycle track
Konflikte auf kümmerlichem Radweg

Conflicts on odd cycle track

Conflicts with pedestrians

Conflicts with pedestrians

Conflicts with pedestrians

Pedestrians on cycle track waiting for green light

Conflicts with pedestrians

Conflicts
Konflikte

Very uncomfortable

Contrary to the Hamburg way promoting cycling on road lanes Copenhagen tries to increase number of cyclists with new cycle tracks to the disadvantage of space for car traffic. Copenhagen wants to increase cycle proportion from 36% to 50%, therefore motorists should give up driving with cars. As example this year in Stormgade new cycle tracks were implemented on both sides, therefore one road lane was given up. Copenhagen community welcomed cyclists for cycling on the new cycle tracks after opening last September. Hamburg´s administration and politicians should declare any more that streets of Hamburg are to small for good cycle infrastructure.

Copenhagen Stormgade with four road lanes, no cycle tracks

Copenhagen Stormgade now has cycle tracks on both sides, but only three lanes for car traffic

Copenhagen Stormgade with four road lanes, no cycle tracks
Kopenhagens Stormgade vor Umbau mit vier Fahrstreifen und ohne Radwege

Copenhagen Stormgade now has cycle tracks on both sides, but only three lanes for car traffic
Radverkehrsförderung: Kopenhagens Stormgade hat nun Radwege auf beiden Seiten und nur noch 3 statt vier Fahrspuren

Easy Parking at Chile House Quarter - New Bike Racks for Downtown Hamburg

Bequemes Parken am Chilehaus - Neue Fahrradbügel für das Kontohausviertel

New racks at Burchardplatz

In Hamburg the traditional place to park a cycle is the cycle track. Racks were placed next to cycle tracks to attach cycles being placed on the cycle tracks. But no cyclist could use these cycle tracks for cycling, although most of these cycle tracks had the obligation to be used. Cyclists had to switch onto road lanes over the last decades in many streets, where cycle tracks were used for parking purposes. Some other cycle racks were placed on the sidewalks.

New racks at Chilehouse

New racks at Altstädter Straße

New racks at Chilehouse

New racks near Chilehouse

About ten years ago the first district in Hamburg started to put racks on the the road. In Eimsbüttel cyclists have equal rights like car drivers parking their vehicles on the road. First places were Allendeplatz, Bogenstraße, Bornstraße and Hartungstraße. A few years ago in the centre of Hamburg at Neuer Wall racks were placed on the street going along with the business improvement district.

Bornstraße in Eimsbüttel, first racks on the road in the 1990s

Now lots of racks offer convenient cycle parking in the office building quarter at the famous chile house. Hopefully other business districts will follow and offer similar cycle parking.

Typical reaction of car lobby: Stadt pollert wieder Parkplätze dicht

Traditional cycle parking in Hamburg: Cycles parking on cycle track

Cycles parking on cycle track

Cycle track with obligation to be used and parking cycles conventionally

Cyclist cannot use the cycles track, that still has obligation to be used

Cycles parked on cycle track

Still cyclists are not allowed to use the roadlane due to traffic signs, but have to use the road lane due to narrow cycle track

Multipurpose cycle-parking-track-garbage

Judgement of Federal Administrative Court Will Change German Cycle Traffic

Today the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig judged in a case of the obligation to use cycle tracks. The obligation to use cycle tracks is permitted only in qualified hazardous situations (BVerwG 3 C 42.09 - Urteil vom 18. November 2010). The judgement will change the situation in most communities in Germany, especially in Hamburg. Forcing cyclists on bad, dangerous or unusable cycle tracks will end now, if cyclist sue their communities. Hamburg´s politicians and administration have to change traffic policy and planning. Cycle tracks cannot built to prefer flow of car traffic against cycling any more.
More in tagesschau.de
More about useless Hamburg cycle tracks under Radwegmecker, Radwegehass, Rechtslage Radwege (last page not up to date).

Some up-to-date Hamburg examples in pictures:

Schützenstraße / Stresemannstraße: Cyclists should change just a few meters in front of the intersction from road lane to a cycle track and after intersection back to road lane not for safety reasons but for some more seconds green light for car traffic

Alfredstraße / Bürgerweide: Cyclists should change a few meters in front of the intersection from road lane onto sidewalk. Turning to the left they have to get off their bikes and push them until they reach the other side of the main road, just for better car traffic flow and not for safety reasons.

Ebertallee: Similar situation than at Alfredstraße / Bürgerweide

Herbert-Weichmann-Straße and Sierichstraße: Cyclists should run on the very narrow sidewalks on both sides of the streets for better car traffic flow.

Herbert-Weichmann-Straße and Sierichstraße: Cyclist have to use the sidewalks, where even parking is allowed. Bad for safety of cyclists, good for car city Hamburg.

Vorsetzen: Cyclists should run across a restaurant along the touristic North Sea Cycle Route and Elbe Cycle Route, for better car traffic flow

"Throw it in the bucket, kid"

"Throw ist in the bucket, kid." Slogan of Hamburg Sanitation

I love cycling. I love real cycling, like in Copenhagen or Basel. After having cycled a whole day in Copenhagen the next day on my bike on the odd Hamburg cycle tracks i feel really bad. Do you imagine what i think when I pass a trash can on my way next to the cycle track with the request: "Throw it in the bucket, kid."? Just below the traffic sign, that commits me to use an odd or unusable cycle track. It´s just me.

European Green Capital - New Planned Quarters Do not Have Sustainable Transport Strategy

A report by Christina Röder for Deutsche Welle TV

Only a few weeks until Hamburg is European Green Capital 2011. The report Öko-Hauptstadt Hamburg of Deutsche Welle TV shows the handicap of Hamburg´s traffic system, especially the bad cycle infrastructure of Hamburg´s newest quarter, the Hafencity near city hall.

Read more about Jochen Menzel´s study for the Hamburg Future Council in "Bike Culture Cities: No Green City Standards for Hamburg´s European Green Capital Traffic System".

More about German eco-cities: Deutsche Städte im Wettbewerb um den Titel "Umwelthauptstadt der EU"