It’s getting tight on the border between the state capital and the district of Munich. Every day, thousands of cars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians press past each other at the transition from Neuperlach to the municipality of Neubiberg. With the numerous construction sites in the area of Carl-Wery-Strasse and Äußere Hauptstrasse in Neubiberg (state road 2078), the situation for all road users has become even worse. At least the buses should, according to the will of the district of Munich, move much faster on their own lanes and thus accelerate the traffic turnaround – but a corresponding traffic study has now shown that bus acceleration is not possible.
For years, the district of Munich and the city have been struggling to find out how this “bottleneck”, as district administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) described the area on Monday in the mobility committee, can be designed. “For us, the entire area is of enormous importance – in many developments,” said Göbel. However, it is also becoming increasingly clear that there are very different opinions as to how Carl-Wery-Strasse should be used in the future. Because while the district wants to increase bus traffic in particular, the state capital is now planning to equip the route on both sides – i.e. east and west of the street – with 2.30 meter wide cycle paths each, and on the west side even with a separate path for pedestrians. However, only up to the junction with Zwergerstraße, which leads to the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Neubiberg – i.e. exactly to the border of the city and the district.
Things get tight on the Carl-Wery-Straße from Neuperlach-Süd to Neubiberg.
(Photo: Sebastian Gabriel)
However, the status quo is to be retained on Neubiberger Flur, along a length of around 400 meters from the Zwergerstraße to the intersection of the Äußere Hauptstraße with the Auf der Haid path at the landscape park. A very narrow foot and bike path west of the state highway – and no bike path on the east side. At least, according to the district administrator, there have been no attempts by the Free State to change anything on the central traffic axis from Ottobrunn and Neubiberg to Munich.
Until now. Because unexpectedly, an opportunity has opened up for the district of Munich and the municipalities in the southeast that has to do with another project in the city. For years, the public utilities have been successfully tapping into the geothermal energy deposits in the district in order to supply the people in the state capital with district heating. This network is now to be extended from Ottobrunn to Neuperlach, of all places, via state road 2078. And the public utilities usually combine work on expanding the network with renovation or new construction of cycle paths in order to keep costs as low as possible.
Geothermal energy can become an accelerator
“If the city of Munich manages to do this with cycle paths on both sides, which is not that easy, it would be an enormous gain,” said SPD parliamentary group spokesman Florian Schardt. The district should be committed to this project in order to enable an extension to Neubiberg. According to Schardt from Ottobrunn, this must be checked and investigated.
However, the district cannot commission plans for the construction of cycle paths on its own initiative, because the Free State and consequently the State Building Authority are responsible for the state roads. And the latter made it very clear that State Road 2078 could only be rebuilt once; multiple conversions over several years are out of the question. “So we only have one shot free,” said Schardt. “And that’s if the municipal utilities put geothermal energy in there. We should definitely keep an eye on that.”
The Stadtwerke expansion plans for the district heating network could actually act like a hoped-for accelerator – not for the buses, but for the expansion of the cycle paths and footpaths to Neubiberg and Ottobrunn. According to information from the administration in the district office, work on the geothermal lines could begin as early as 2024 – for this reason alone, planning with the road construction office must be pushed, said SPD parliamentary group leader Schardt.
Ottobrunn’s Mayor Thomas Loderer (CSU) recalled a project that could change the south-eastern district for decades to come: the extension of the U5 from Neuperlach via Neubiberg and Ottobrunn to the Ludwig-Bölkow-Campus with the Faculty of Aeronautics and space travel. “Especially with this project we have to put pressure on, also to relieve the buses,” said Loderer.