Radbahn Berlin: Initiative for cycle path under subway viaduct

Have you ever heard of a bike park? A place of movement and encounter instead of the isolated parallel life that increasingly characterizes public urban space? This is exactly what the association Paper planes e.V. is pursuing. In an effort to change Berlin’s mobility planning, the young team is looking for new utilization concepts in the city. One of these urban spaces is the neglected heritage-protected elevated railway viaduct of Berlin’s subway line 1, where the visionary “Radbahn Berlin” is currently being created.

The association Paper planes e.V. has officially existed since the summer of 2016. Its long-standing voluntary commitment aims to promote the urban planning development of bicycle infrastructure. The association has the non-profit goal of exploring social and technological potential to create more environmentally friendly and liveable urban spaces. After all, there is a great opportunity in urbanization. Accordingly, the team wants to inspire as many people as possible with ideas and impulses – the “paper planes” – for a better future. To achieve this, they use holistic project approaches, concrete visions and emotional communication.

Paper planes e.V. were certainly not the first to come up with the idea of cycling under the U1 elevated line. But they made the ideas concrete. In 2014, Martti Mela from Finland brought together a group of architects, urban enthusiasts and cultural workers. Together, they sketched out the idea in order to concretize the mental game. In November 2015, they published the idea on social media. The timing was good. There was a great deal of interest in the Radbahn Berlin from politicians, the media and citizens. Within a few weeks, fan communities, international articles and an award with the Federal Ecodesign Prize were created.

The House of Representatives then commissioned a feasibility study. However, they turned the Radbahn Berlin into a cycle highway, which it was never intended to be. This is because cycle highways are usually at least four meters wide and should have as few intersections as possible. In contrast, the Radbahn Berlin is on average three meters wide and, as an inner-city route, is far from intersection-free. Accordingly, the cycle path did not meet the criteria of the feasibility study. The good thing, however, was that the public recognized the special quality of the Radbahn concept. After all, the cycle path under the viaduct is a tangent linking districts. This means that “cycle highways” coming from the periphery can easily dock onto it.

Our cities are coming under increasing pressure to tackle urgent challenges such as the transport transition and sustainable urban development. It is in this context that the vision of the Berlin Radbahn, which is intended to activate the forgotten area around the elevated railroad viaduct, comes into play. One thing is clear: the Berlin Radbahn is more than just an ordinary cycle route. In addition to traffic solutions, it offers a great social opportunity. On the one hand, you are protected from wind and weather along the elevated railroad viaduct. On the other hand, the mostly separate traffic routing ensures greater safety. In addition, the Radbahn Berlin is an urban space that addresses the various needs of citizens. Paper planes e.V. uses the term bicycle park for this. The underlying idea is that a park is often multifunctional and a place for experimentation, coexistence and deceleration. The Radbahn Berlin is therefore intended to bring peace, awareness and joy to the city.

The team around paper planes e.V. is therefore working on the potential of a cycle path for Berlin’s traffic. The results were published in 2017 in the book “Radbahn – Zukunftsvisionen für die ökomobile Stadt”. It describes possible implementation recommendations and feasibility of the Radbahn vision. For example, solutions are proposed for traffic planning issues such as intersections, elevated stations and short support distances. Furthermore, possible effects of implementation on the economy, urban development and culture are highlighted. In 2019, the idea took shape once again: in the Radbahn real-world laboratory. In the meantime, the association is continuously supplementing investigations into the Radbahn Berlin in the area of studies.

Since 2022, paper planes e.V. has been working with an external planning team, Fabulism and Lysann Schmidt, to develop a two-hundred-meter-long test field. This will extend between Kottbusser Tor and Görlitzer Bahnhof. The Radbahn-Reallabor results from the ongoing exchange with citizens and stakeholders, as well as research studies and the findings of the last seven years. The participants in the public participation process spoke out in favor of zoning the cycle path with so-called islands. This means that in addition to sections of the route that are primarily designed for cycling, there is also a programmatic interplay of different thematic areas. These islands then contain street furniture, sports facilities or art and information exhibitions.

The test field for the Berlin cycle path now consists of three islands and the new cycle path in the middle. The flanks will be transformed into green spaces along the entire route. This means that two thirds of the area under the viaduct will be unsealed and greened. The areas will be biodiverse and climate-promoting, partially leased and generally enhance the urban space. Meanwhile, the demolished paving stones will be repurposed in the spirit of the circular economy, for example as seating. There is also the complex requirement to use the precipitation that falls on the viaduct to irrigate the green spaces.

When will the Berlin cycle path be realized? The first section in Kreuzberg is due to open in spring 2024. However, as the planning and approval phases in the area of traffic and urban planning are very lengthy, it is still unclear when the entire route will be completed.

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