Grand Boulevard bike path remains – 444

New Wednesday of New Times by Peter Uj.

I’m interested

The local government of the capital has made a decision on the fate of the Grand Boulevard bike path temporarily established in the epidemic situation: it will still be possible to ride a bicycle protected from car traffic on the section established since April, he announced

At the same time, the bike path will not remain in its current place everywhere: on the stretch of road between the Blaha Lujza square and the Petőfi bridge, which means József körút and Ferenc körút, the capital will restore the traffic order of two rails,

here, by eliminating the parking lanes (approximately 450 parking spaces), the bike lane is transferred to the side of the road, between the sidewalk and the two lanes of traffic.

The city administration presented the new design plan as a compromise solution. Samu Balogh said that traffic measurements in the capital covering all modes of transport showed that the section of the Grand Boulevard from Blaha Lujza Square to the Pet isfi Bridge is used by almost twice as many cars a day as the section to the north. of Blah. In the latter, only a quarter of road users now drive a car, most of them using a sustainable mode of transport: public transport or cycling. According to Balogh, on the other section of the southern highway, this is roughly the opposite.

A questionnaire survey conducted by the capital, completed by 48,000 city residents, according to Balogh, showed that the majority of respondents could only support the completion of the temporary Grand Boulevard bike lane without major reductions in car traffic capacity. “This can be largely guaranteed by the compromise solution just presented,” Balogh said, adding that the now announced changes are feasible by the end of September.

At the same time, Christmas and Balogh have announced that the capital will launch a “complex planning process” for the future of Grand Boulevard. “We agree with the professional and civic actors who want the Grand Boulevard to be the main cultural and commercial street in Budapest and to regain all the functions that were long ago,” said Christmas.

Christmas: I won the elections with my program no Tarlós

According to the mayor, during the social consultation prior to the decision, the city administration perceived the “legitimate needs of drivers” to ensure the continuity of traffic on the roads, but cannot afford to sacrifice the vision of a more viable Budapest to long-term for short-term political success. According to him, the significance of the current decision is that it goes beyond the “stupid political framework” that there are opposing parties, motorists and cyclists in the city.

“There are people in this city who want to go from one point to another, for whom we have to offer adequate transport alternatives, because unfortunately there will always be traffic jams in Budapest, if we only consider transport by car as the only option.”

– He said.

When asked if the mayor would respond publicly to the letter from Balázs Fürjes and the Secretary of State for the Development of the Budapest Agglomeration, in exchange for the just announced decisions, asking the mayor to put an end to the “car chase” , Christmas said:

“Don’t ask me to implement the István Tarlós program, because I didn’t win an election with him.”

The other temporary bike lanes created around the same time as Grand Boulevard will also remain, “and will continue to serve the cycling revolution,” only Üllői út will be closed due to the soon-to-be-launched subway replacement bus traffic, Christmas announced.

Cycling club: Changes in Boulevard József do not serve the renovation of the Boulevard

The Hungarian Cycling Club is one of the professional organizations that urged the city government to end the cycle lane and reduce car traffic. They responded to the Christmas announcement on their Facebook page:

“The Hungarian Cycling Club welcomes the decision (…) to maintain the bicycle lanes in Nagykörút, Bartók Béla út, Villányi and Tétényi út, even though no solution can be found for the comprehensive renovation of the road ring road on the Józsefváros section of Nagykörű “.

they wrote. They added that the remaining bike lanes on the boulevard could be the cornerstones of the district’s renewal, “but there must be a solution beyond transportation to the lack of a habitable center, residents, merchants, and catering service providers to do from the Grand Boulevard a prosperous walk again. “

We write more about his ideas here.