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Pedestrian flows around Bubenbergplatz are increasing enormously. The Bern City Council wants to redesign the perimeter and significantly reduce car traffic.
The Hirschengraben with the new station entrance.
Visualization / City of Bern / zvg
On Tuesday, the city of Bern announced its plans for the redesign of the Hirschengraben and Bubenbergplatz. Much will change on this perimeter in the course of the expansion of the Bern train station: because the flow of pedestrians to and from the train station will almost triple in the coming years, a new underpass will be built and implemented powerful new traffic measures. Also due to the construction of the new RBS station at the west end of the main station, the focus of pedestrian flows will shift towards Hirschengraben, Mayor Alec von Graffenried (GFL) said on Tuesday.
The Bubenbergplatz building, according to SBB’s ideas.
Image: Display / zvg / SBB
The project, which is presented to the city council and then to the people, was presented by von Graffenried, director of civil engineering Ursula Wyss (SP) and cantonal construction director Christoph Neuhaus (SVP). Car lanes will be reduced, zebra crossings and recreational areas will be widened and green phases for pedestrians will be expanded.
“The Bern train station is the backbone of Bern’s public transport”
At the same time, the city council wants to reduce private car traffic around Bubenbergplatz by 60 percent with various measures, such as a ban on turning on Schanzenstrasse. By doing so, you are trying to accelerate an already existing trend: Traffic on this axis has been cut in half since 1992.
Bubenberg has to slow down
The planned pedestrian underpass will connect the future west exit of the station with the Hirschengraben; Councilor Ursula Wyss describes the station’s new entrance as “on par with the current main entrance.” Because the entrance to the underground passage is at the current location of the Bubenberg monument, you will have to move a few meters to the center of the Hirschengraben park. A new location must also be found for the many bikes that commuters park at Hirschengraben – the city is currently clarifying whether an underground bike station can be approved. Objections had been raised to the protection of monuments against excavations on the perimeter of the UNESCO World Heritage site in the old town of Bern.
This is how Bubenbergplatz should look after the renovation.
Visualization / City of Bern / zvg
Voters would decide on the possible construction of Velostation in a separate proposal. The city council will evaluate the execution credit of the underpass and traffic measures in November; the vote is scheduled for March 2021. The loan approved by the municipal council amounts to 112.17 million Swiss francs. However, contributions from the Confederation and the canton of around 58 million francs will return to the city’s coffers.
The bahgrapesf Bern is the backbone of the country public Traffic, said Christoph Neuhaus, and I knowwithjoked about last week’s airline failure, which led to numerous train cancellations and delays, such as «Test to show what if it doesn’t work here.»
