Safer cycling on Frankfurter Straße

The Office for Mobility has examined the conditions for the concrete implementation of the project. Around 6,000 vehicles and three bus routes use Frankfurter Straße every day. The speed limit is 50 km/h. The only speed limit is 30 km/h in the rear section towards the city limits in front of the daycare center. Longitudinally parked cars are permitted in the street or on the edge of the street in some sections. With this traffic density, a number of vehicles has been reached that, according to the official recommendations for cycle traffic facilities (ERA), a protective lane should be available for cyclists. The existing lane width of six meters on average must be maintained to allow buses and trucks to pass each other easily. A protective cycle lane in each direction is therefore only possible if there is no longitudinal parking on the road.

"In numerous preliminary discussions with neighboring companies, a doctor's practice and the Offenbach Chamber of Industry and Commerce, we discussed the elimination of the previously free parking spaces on the public road at an early stage. We looked for a compromise in order to take the interests of motorists into account in the best possible way and to enable as many people as possible to continue parking on public streets. This should best meet the needs of both residents and employees. We want to achieve this by freeing up parking spaces for employees and customer traffic with a parking duration of up to 10 hours for half of the parking spaces that will be lost in the adjacent side streets," explains Mayor Groß. Currently, a maximum parking duration of 2 hours is permitted in the residents' parking area. In the adjacent residents' parking area, it is now expected that 32 parking spaces - half of the parking spaces that will be removed - will be able to be used for 10 hours instead of 2 hours. A parking fee must be paid for this. Residents who have a resident parking permit can continue to park there without paying an additional fee and without a time limit.

Sabine Groß adds: "Residents need a parking space close to their homes, especially in the evening and into the early morning. Visitors and employees, on the other hand, mainly want to park there during the day. To this end, we want to create paid parking facilities for up to 10 hours during the day. This parking space will be available to residents again in the evening and throughout the night." The costs for these parking spaces are yet to be determined. "I can imagine a low fee here, which would be in the region of the current cost of the Deutschlandticket for weekday use," says Groß. This would mean that parking would cost just 2.45 euros per day, assuming 20 working days per month. The daily time frame would be between 6 am and 6 pm. This definition also still has to be examined and politically decided.

The 10-hour parking spaces could be implemented within the residents' parking on the adjacent streets Dreieichring, Körnerstraße, Tulpenhofstraße, Rödernstraße or Ludwigstraße. Parking machines and corresponding parking space management are required for the payment process. The city is currently drawing up a concept with cost calculations. To ensure that as few parking machines as possible are required, which are costly to purchase and above all to operate, it makes sense to consolidate these parking spaces.

The city is also pursuing the possibility of removing the streetcar tracks. "If the old rails and the track substructure are removed, an initial assessment suggests that Frankfurter Strasse will have to be completely rebuilt. This is associated with high costs. But even if the rails were removed, a separate area for cyclists would be necessary for greater safety due to the high volume of traffic. This is because only a safety lane ensures that cyclists no longer have to move in a confined space between buses, trucks and moving and parked cars. Without a hard shoulder, cyclists cannot keep the required distance from parked cars and would continue to be endangered by a carelessly opened door and by motor vehicles overtaking with too little distance," says Groß.

At the beginning of August 2022, the city councillors of Offenbach approved the agreement between the city and the Cycling Initiative to optimize cycling and set up a monitoring committee in a resolution of principle. In this agreement, the city commits to optimizing the infrastructure for cycling in Offenbach. Smaller and larger measures are to be implemented over the next few years. The committee is made up of representatives from politics, administration, Radentscheid, ADFC, VCD, the Chamber of Crafts, IHK and ADAC. The committee met for the first time on October 18, 2022 and deals with the projects from the agreement with the Radentscheid, such as the measure in Frankfurter Straße.

Uwe Kirsche, Head of Press and Public Relations at the German Weather Service (DWD): "Our analysis of road accidents has shown constant figures over the past few years. Almost every year, we have one or two bicycle accidents directly on our access road via Frankfurter Straße. The reasons are often the slippery streetcar tracks and the poor visibility when leaving the underground car park. The fact that Frankfurter Straße is relatively narrow in front of our property has made it difficult to set up cycle paths. This is why many of the DWD employees ride on the sidewalks, which is of course not ideal. In principle, the DWD sees itself as a partner of the city of Offenbach. The plans to improve the cycling situation on Frankfurter Strasse have been in place for a very long time. We hope they will be implemented soon."

Sigrid Männche, Director of the St. Paul Catholic Daycare Center: "The St. Paul Catholic Daycare Center and Family Center is a place where children, families and the community come together. It is a meeting place and as such we welcome the city's efforts to make Frankfurter Straße a safe place for cyclists too. The children who attend our facility depend on the fact that there are no dangers from a road dominated by motor vehicle traffic in front of the daycare center. We have therefore welcomed the establishment of a 30 km/h zone in front of the daycare center and are grateful for regular speed measurements to monitor compliance with the speed limit. To enable even more parents to drop off and pick up their children safely by bike, we look forward to the creation of a cycle lane."

Ralf Klinge, Head of International Sales, Rail Power Systems GmbH: "The Offenbach am Main branch of Rail Power Systems has been located at Frankfurter Strasse 111 for 21 years now. There are regular near-accidents involving cyclists entering and leaving our premises. There have also been several accidents involving cyclists. For this reason, we expressly support the planned cycle path on Frankfurter Straße and hope that it will be implemented soon."

Maik Villwock, Offenbach (user of the route): " About 2 years ago, I was able to experience for myself on Frankfurter Straße how dangerous streetcar tracks can be for cyclists, even when riding carefully. I was riding into town and at some point I was forced to cross the track because of the parked cars. As the road was wet, all my caution and avoiding an acute angle didn't help at all. My front wheel slipped immediately and I crashed onto the side. Fortunately, the car behind me was far enough away for me to brake just in time. So I got away again with bruises and grazes. I would be grateful to the city if they could do something about it quickly."

Sana Niazi, Head Girl at Leibnizschule: "As a Club of Rome and certified environmental school, safe cycle paths are important for us so that we can make our way to school sustainably and contribute to climate protection."

Christoph Dombrowski, Headmaster of Leibnizschule: "Offenbach is a comparatively small city. This means that almost all pupils can easily reach Leibnizschule by bike. The expansion and maintenance of cycle paths is particularly important for this. In the interests of good and safe access to the school from the city center, the Leibniz School community therefore supports the planning and construction of a cycle path on Frankfurter Straße. Due to the cobblestone sections, it is currently unsuitable and accident-prone. As a Club of Rome and certified environmental school, it is also important to us that our pupils can make their way to school safely and sustainably by bike right from the start."

Jörg Schwarzwälder, Leibniz School Parents' Council / City Parents' Council / BiciBus organizer: "It is very important to us that pupils can make their way to school and in their free time independently and that parent cabs remain the exception. Safe and well-developed school routes and connections, whether on foot, by bike or by public transport, are a prerequisite for this. We expressly welcome the planned cycle path on Frankfurter Straße, as it would close an important gap in the connection. At present, Frankfurter Straße is simply a dangerous road for cyclists, especially children, due to the cobblestones, the streetcar tracks and the volume of traffic. Falls happen here almost every day."