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The Administrative Court of Berlin has granted an urgent AfD claim against the so-called emerging cycle lanes in Berlin and has decided in an urgent procedure: The prerequisites for the construction of eight different temporary cycle lanes in Berlin were not fulfilled. Consequently, the so-called Corona bike lanes are illegal.
Room XI forced the defendant, the Senate Department of Transportation, Environment and Climate, to remove the relevant posters. The following emerging cycle paths are affected: Gitschiner Straße / Skalitzer Straße between Halleschem Tor and Kottbusser Straße, Hallesches Ufer between Halleschem Tor and Köthener Straße, Kottbusser Damm / Kottbusser Straße between Kottbusser Tor and Hermannplatz, Lichtenberger Straße between Peters and Holmannplatz Straßemark. Street between Bersarinplatz and Landsberger Allee, Tempelhofer Ufer between Schöneberger Straße and Halleschem Tor, Schöneberger Ufer between Potsdamer Brücke and Köthener Straße, Kantstraße and Neue Kantstraße between Messedamm and Budapester Straße.
As announced by the court on Monday, the applicant had filed a lawsuit and an urgent motion against the emerging bike lanes established by the traffic administration in the corona pandemic.
To justify the bicycle lanes, the authority of the Senator for Transport Regine Günther (Greens) stated, according to the court, that it was necessary to guarantee the mobility relevant to the system during the pandemic, since most Berliners do not have a car and the distance minimum can hardly be observed on buses and trains. What justified it, accelerated bike lanes and, where appropriate, provisional, the court summarized the history of the bike lanes.
However, the applicant is of the opinion that cycle lanes have no legal basis. Among other things, according to the court, it argued that “non-trafficking considerations” such as the crown pandemic could not be used as justification, and beyond that, the Senate Administration had not presented any specific risk situation.
Court: “Serious doubts about the legality of the establishment of bike lanes”
Chamber XI granted the urgent request because there were “serious doubts about the legality of the bike lane installation,” according to the court. Bicycle lanes should “be installed only when traffic safety, traffic load and / or traffic flow specifically indicate a dangerous situation and therefore the arrangement is absolutely necessary”.
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The Senate Transit Administration had not presented such a dangerous situation, but incorrectly assumed that it did not have to justify it. “The facts that indicated a specific danger to bicycle traffic on the affected road sections could not be inferred from the justification of the order.”
With a view to the crown crisis as a motive, the court agreed that the plaintiff was right: the pandemic could not be used as a motive for the warrants, “these were not traffic-related considerations.” The court report also stated: “Additional reasoning from the Senate Administration remains without concrete evidence and does not go beyond general descriptions of the situation that are valid on a large number of streets.”
A member of the AfD complained in June against the short-term establishment of eight new bike lanes. The decision is not final yet. The Senate Traffic Administration can appeal the September 4 decision to the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg. However, this has no suspensive effect. The Senate would have to justify this in a separate motion..
AfD: “Victory of individual mobility against hatred of the car”
The AfD celebrated the verdict with a message: “Pop-up bike lanes are illegal!” AfD traffic expert Frank Scholtysek said: “This is a victory of individual mobility against hatred of cars. We are pleased that for the first time the judges have pushed left wing ideologues to their limits. Now the barricades The illegal ones must be dismantled immediately and the streets cleared again. ”
AfD legal expert Marc Vallendar stated: “The court fully followed our complaint brief. The judges have thus confirmed without restriction that the establishment and operation of the bike lane via red-red-green is completely illegal. It could not be clearer. ”
The AfD announced that it “wanted to continue defending itself from the reeducation camp of transport policy in Berlin”, which the party called “road blocks, parking bans and ever-higher fees. Attorney Vallendar had represented his part in the process.
This affects cycle lanes that have been especially praised by cycling associations.
The cycle paths in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg, which have received much praise from bicycle and environmental associations, are particularly affected by the ruling. For Kottbusser Damm / Kottbusser Straße, for example, the district had indicated that these should be kept permanently.
The mayor of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, Monika Herrmann (Greens), told the Tagesspiegel that she would “take a look at it first.” “So we decide if and what to do.” Since all Corona bike lanes are on the main roads, Regine Günther (Greens) will advise closely with the traffic administration.
CDU: “First Class Defeat”
The CDU’s transportation policy spokesman in the House of Representatives, Oliver Friederici, spoke of a “first-rate defeat” for the Senate. Although you are not fundamentally against emerging bike lanes, they must be legally justified without any doubt. Friederici therefore called for all emerging cycle lanes to be “immediately” removed.
Only after clear clarification and sufficient public participation can temporary cycle lanes be considered. On Kantstrasse and on the Landwehr canal, you experience daily traffic chaos due to new bike lanes. “Bicycle traffic has increased during the pandemic, but automobile traffic has not decreased either,” he said, predicting that the proportion of cyclists in the city would decrease with a view to winter.
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The chairman of the Berlin FDP parliamentary group, Sebastian Czaja, also harshly criticized Transport Senator Regine Günther (Greens): “The Green Transport Senator failed across the board on her core problem.” She called for a re-examination of all temporary bike lanes with the participation of residents, BVG and other affected parties.
Czaja went on to say: “Only if this really contributes to improving traffic flow and eliminating dangerous situations, can the bike lane be stabilized, otherwise they should be removed immediately.”
