Berlin's Cycling Streets
Individual districts have the authority to establish bike-priority streets where cars take a back seat
I was on my way to an appointment on Monday near Hausvogteiplatz in Mitte when I noticed that the Oberwallstraße between Werderscher Markt and Kleine Jägerstraße was now a fahrradstraße (literally “bicycle street”). I don’t know how long it has been this way, but it wasn’t one when I was last in the area about six months ago.
Bicycle streets give priority to bike traffic. Automobiles are prohibited except for vehicles making deliveries and those of people who work or live on the street. This is indicated by the signs saying “anlieger frei” (“residents allowed”). And all traffic is restricted to biking speed, here 30 km/h.
Although many people think of dedicated bike lanes along busy streets when they think of good cycling infrastructure, bike-priority streets are actually a step beyond. When done well, they improve safety for cyclists and the general traffic flow for everyone.
In my travel article about Amsterdam, I mentioned the city’s use of bike-priority streets in their larger ‘plus net’ traffic plan, which aims to efficiently route through the city, by offering routes that prioritize one type of traffic over another.
Studies have shown that more people will choose to cycle if they can ride completely separate from high-speed auto traffic. Separate roads - not just lanes - are safer for cyclists and reduce the incidence of risky encounters with cars. They also divert cycle traffic away from routes prioritized for cars, making car trips less stressful and inefficient for car drivers. More people taking bikes for local trips + fewer bikes on busy car streets = a win for everyone.
Berlin has made increasing the number of Fahrradstraßen a key part of its Radverkehrplan, a plan to improve the city’s cycling network, reduce car traffic in the city center, and increase the number of city residents who cycle instead of drive.
Mitte to add 24 in ‘24
According to the blog Entwicklungsstadt Berlin, Oberwallstraße is one of 24 new cycling streets planned for the central district of Mitte in 2024.
[Translated from German]
For example, a new bicycle route is to be set up on the northern Charlottenstrasse, between Unter den Linden and Dorotheenstrasse. This is intended to continue the existing cycle route. So far, the cycle route runs from Unter den Linden Boulevard to Leipziger Straße.
Further comparable routes are to be implemented not only in the central district of Mitte, but also in the other districts of Wedding, Moabit, Gesundbrunnen and Tiergarten. For example, Genthiner Straße between Lützowstraße and Kurfürstenstraße in Tiergarten is to be converted into a bicycle street.
The routes planned in Mitte for 2024 include:
Charlottenstrasse North between Unter den Linden and Dorotheenstrasse
Charlottenstrasse South between Leipziger Strasse and Zimmerstrasse
Gartenstrasse between Grenzstrasse and Liesenstrasse
Genthiner Straße between Lützowstraße and Kurfürstenstraße
Gormannstrasse between Torstrasse and Weinmeisterstrasse
Helgoland bank between Kirchstrasse and Lüneburger Strasse
Jülicher Straße between Bornholmer Straße and Behmstraße
Kluckstrasse/Stauffenbergstrasse between Tiergartenstrasse and Lützowstrasse
Lützowstrasse between Lützowufer and Flottwellstrasse
Lützowufer between Budapester Straße and Lützowplatz
Melchiorstrasse between Engeldamm and Michaelkirchplatz
North bank between Föhrer Straße and Fennstraße
Oberwallstrasse between Franze Strasse and Amzeughaus
Planckstrasse/Am Weidendamm between Ebertsbrücke and Dorotheenstrasse
Schwedter Straße between Bernauer Straße and Choriner Straße
Singerstrasse/Schillingstrasse between (Kleine) Lichtenberger Strasse and Alexanderstrasse
Swinoujscie Bridge between Behmstrasse and Ramlerstrasse
Thomasiusstraße/Wilsnacker Straße between Perleberger Straße and Helgoländer Ufer
Togo Strait between African Strait and Transvaal Strait
Uferstrasse between Exerzierstrasse and Wiesenstrasse
Districts choose and maintain the streets
According to Berlin’s Senate Department for Mobility, Traffic, Climate Protection and the Environment, each district is responsible for establishing and maintaining the bicycle streets within their boundaries, with the Senate department providing guidance.
Coincidentally, the same day that I noticed the bike streets in Mitte, I also had a meeting in Weißensee, in the north east of Berlin. And I noticed Bizetstraße, in the Komponistenviertel (Composer’s Quarter) is also now a bicycle street.
According to the Berliner Woche:
The establishment of Bizetstrasse as a bicycle route has been partially completed … In the section of Bizetstrasse between Beltstrasse and Rossinistrasse, road construction work is currently taking place under full closure. As part of the construction work, new parking spaces for bicycles were created as well as additional crossing options for pedestrian traffic. Visibility has been improved in many places. Some of these measures will be completed over the summer. With this measure, the district office is implementing another component of the Pankow bicycle street concept and the Berlin bicycle traffic plan.
Pankow is the district that encompasses Weißensee. You can find more information about cycle streets in that district here and at this site maintained by Grüne Pankow (Green Pankow).
‘Cycling capital’ still a long way off
The new cycle streets are an especially welcome sight, since they come at a time when the city’s overall cycling plan faces new challenges.
The election of a centrist-dominated state government in 2023 dealt the city’s cycling network a significant blow. At the time, the city’s new transport minister declared that construction of all new bike lanes would be put on hold, pending review of the impact to car traffic.
"The traffic transition in Berlin has been stalled," Changing Cities spokesperson Ragnhild Sorensen said in a statement last week. "Not a single new bus lane was built in 2023, streetcar projects have been put on hold, the expansion of cycle paths has been slowed down and now they are being redesigned to be more car-friendly. The SPD and CDU promised us a functioning city — what we got was dirty air and dangerous roads."
The impact on the bicycle streets has been muted because they are funded by the districts themselves, outside the state’s direct authority.
But the lack of central coordination for the overall cycle network means that cycling around the city can still be a sketchy proposition.
Cycling infrastructure varies significantly from district to district in quality and quantity. It’s not always easy to figure out a bike-friendly route. The city refers people to this crowd-sourced map that includes all known bike streets, bike lanes and other supportive infrastructure. But it’s not like I can look at that while riding.
Where we live - south Friedrichshain - there’s often cars parked on the cycle lanes or they just end abruptly forcing riders to merge with car traffic or ride illegally on the sidewalk. I only know of one fahrradstraße nearby - and, while it is along a heavily traveled route into the city center - it is not a route I need to take frequently. So, I mostly walk or take the bus and trams to get around.
For people like my husband, who was used to riding on the mean streets of Atlanta with very few bike lanes and zero bike streets - Berlin is heaven by comparison. But for me, it’s too much of a learning curve.
That being said, many, many people in my neighborhood do cycle.
For most of my neighbors, cycling is their primary means of local transportation. The bike racks and the bike room are always full. You can’t swing a stick without hitting a bike shop, and Berliners seem to put their kids on a ‘laufrad’ (balance bike) almost as soon as they can stand up.
Kids under 12 can legally ride on the sidewalks, and a parent can ride with them. Once you are older than 12, you are supposed to ride in the street. This is a law that is violated all the time, everywhere you look. And, I don’t mind, because, of course, I get it. I don’t feel safe on the street either.
Our district has announced a traffic-calming plan for our immediate area, which will make cycling on the neighborhood streets safer (if not *as safe*). But I hope that we will also get a few of these cycle streets, too. They would go a long way in getting me out and about on two wheels instead of two feet.
More resources for biking in Berlin
Slow Travel Berlin: Cycling the City