Traffic turnaround – Würmtal communities saddle up – Munich district

If cycling is comfortable and safe, then citizens also get on the saddle and leave the car behind. This is the formula for success used by mobility experts to increase the proportion of cycling on the roads. The Würmtal communities of Gräfelfing and Neuried took small steps here last week: The Graefelfing community has good prospects of being certified as a bicycle-friendly municipality, and the Neuried community has set up a local branch of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) to become more politically influential the community employees to lease a bike.

There was particular praise for a number on Wednesday in Graefelfing: the municipality has invested 36 euros per inhabitant in cycling in recent years. That is significantly more than the working group bicycle-friendly municipalities in Bavaria eV requires for certification. An evaluation committee headed by senior building officer Martin Singer came to Graefelfing to inspect what the community has done in six years to promote cycling. Kerstin Schreyer, Minister of State for Housing, Building and Transport (CSU), and the member of the Green Party, Markus Büchler, spokesman for mobility, also appeared at the meeting.

The Graefelfinger have implemented around 20 measures in the past five years to make cycling more attractive, said Roland Strecker, the municipality’s cycling officer. This includes the renovation of the two roundabouts in Lochham, where the cycle paths have been improved, and the renovation of existing ones Cycle paths, for example along Lochhamer Strasse, and a “Cycle Highway” along the A 96 motorway to Munich.

There are also future tasks. The big crossing areas remain a sticking point. For the complicated junction Pasinger Strasse / Lochhamer Strasse / Kleinhaderner Weg shortly before the A 96 motorway bridge, a conversion concept is only now available after years of research. The intersection of Bahnhofstrasse / Pasinger Strasse / Würmtalstrasse remains “a shortcoming,” said local councilor Martin Feldner (Greens), head of the bicycle traffic working group. In any case, a safe crossing is not possible for cyclists.

The Graefelfinger were dismissed by the evaluation committee with homework, in particular documents still have to be submitted. Then there is a good chance of receiving the seal of approval for a bicycle-friendly municipality at the end of January. Then the Graefelfinger just have to cycle – with a high car share of 1.8 vehicles per household, the community still has the status of a strong motorist community.

Become more powerful, enable better cooperation with the municipalities and maintain a close exchange with local councils – these are the reasons why the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) is currently establishing small-scale local groups in the Würmtal. In Neuried this happened on Thursday, in Graefelfing there has been such a group since the end of September, in Planegg it is to be founded in November. “The representatives on site simply know where the problem is,” said Martina Tollkühn, spokeswoman for the ADFC Munich.

In Neuried, for example, the poor connection to Großhadern is a focal point. The unpaved path next to the road is hardly passable for cyclists in winter, said Frauke Buchholz from Neuried, a member of the ADFC.

The municipality of Neuried is also taking another approach to luring people onto bicycles: As the first Würmtal municipality, the municipality enables its employees to use bicycle leasing by means of a deferred payment. The local council spoke out in favor of this. Bicycles, including e-bikes and cargo bikes, can be leased from an external provider for up to 7,000 euros; part of the fee is used for this before tax deduction. “We already have around 20 applications,” said Mayor Harald Zipfel (SPD).

The town hall chief propagates cycling in his own way: he cycles to appointments up to a distance of twelve kilometers, also to the district office in Munich. “With the bike I only need ten minutes longer, when there is a traffic jam on the ring, I am even faster,” he reports.

.
source site