Initial improvements to the cycling infrastructure have already been achieved over the past two years. The network plan presented today is to become the future planning basis for the gradual implementation of a continuous and safe cycling network, as called for by the Bonn cycling decision. The network also includes proposals for connections and cycle commuting routes to neighboring municipalities in the Rhein-Sieg district, which have been developed and coordinated with the local administrations in recent months.
In 2021, the main committee of the city of Bonn approved the citizens' initiative Radentscheid Bonn and commissioned the city administration to implement it. The citizens' initiative defines seven transport policy goals for the improvement of cycling and walking infrastructure in Bonn. The initiative had previously collected a total of 28,074 signatures in Bonn between May and September 2020.
Implementation status to date is presented
This transparency report from the City of Bonn presents the status of implementation of the targets to date. The city has already picked up speed, particularly in the expansion and widening of new cycling and walking facilities. While only 1.8 km of infrastructure compliant with the cycling decision was implemented between 2019 and 2020, this figure rose to 6.6 km between 2021 and 2022. A further 30 km are currently being planned or have been submitted to politicians for consultation and approval, including a 21 km network of cycle paths. However, the report also clearly shows that The city of Bonn has not yet met the specified timetable for implementing the goals of the Bonn Cycling Decision.
"In the last two years, we have implemented important projects to strengthen cycling and significantly increased the pace of expanding good cycling infrastructure. We have mastered the launch, built up a strong cycling team and expanded the network plan for cycling. The fact that this commitment has been noticed and rewarded by the city's population is reflected not least in Bonn's ranking as a top city in the ADFC's cycling climate test. The transparency report presented today on the implementation status of the Bonn Cycling Decision makes it clear that we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do in the coming years," says Katja Dörner, Mayor of Bonn.
Proposal to expand the cycling network plan
To coincide with the presentation of the transparency report, the city of Bonn is submitting an expansion proposal for the cycling network plan to politicians. The existing network was expanded based on the requirements of the cycling decision, which calls for a continuous network that connects all parts of the city safely and conveniently. This overall concept for bicycle traffic forms the basis for bicycle traffic planning in the coming years.
The cycling network plan provides an important orientation framework for politicians and administrators when initiating and planning future projects. It distinguishes between routes that are of particular importance for cycling now or in the future and roads that only play a subordinate role.
Weighing up the interests of different modes of transport appropriately
"The cycling network plan should allow us to weigh up the interests of the different modes of transport appropriately in future and take them into account in our planning. The main routes defined here are important connecting axes between the city districts and have an overarching network significance. We therefore aim to implement the cycling decision standards on the proposed main routes in future. A large proportion of the cycle lanes currently under discussion, for example, are located in the main route network and their implementation is intended to close important gaps. However, the planning and implementation of good cycling infrastructure requires compliance with procedural standards and coordination cycles that are difficult to reconcile with the agreed timetable of the cycling decision. The work of the past two years makes it clear that the implementation of the objectives will take longer than originally demanded by politicians and civil society," explains Helmut Wiesner, Head of the Department of Transport and Urban Development.
As the cycling decision is a framework resolution that defines standards and targets, the respective projects are discussed by politicians in the form of implementation resolutions. The administration is therefore currently working on an implementation schedule in which the objectives of the citizens' petition are translated into specific projects and timetables and are to be successively presented to politicians for consultation.
Discussion event on May 31
The city administration will present the transparency report to interested members of the public on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, from 6 p.m. in the Haus der Bildung, Mülheimer Platz. Afterwards, City Planning Councillor Wiesner, representatives of the cycling decision and Thomas Stein from the German Institute of Urban Affairs (difu) will discuss the implementation status of the cycling decision together.
Further information on the Internet
The city administration has published the transparency report online at https://www.bonn.de/Radentscheid (opens in a new tab). The document is available for download there as a pdf file.
The draft resolution on the cycling network can be accessed here (opens in a new tab) in the council information system.