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Cologne embarks on cycling-friendly journey

Cologne embarks on cycling-friendly journey

The mayor of the city believes that cyclists should be allowed to also use the roads, even if there are cycling lanes already present

Over the course of the pandemic, many citizens across Europe have turned to cycling as their preferred mode of transport. Not only is it a healthier alternative to public transport, but it also has a significant environmental impact by reducing the use of personal cars and other polluting vehicles.

That is why the mayor of Cologne wants to significantly improve the experience and safety of his city’s cyclists by also allowing them to safely adhere to social distancing measures while moving about in the city.

Henriette Reker’s suggestions

One of the mayor’s suggestions aimed at improving cycling conditions in the city is to allow cyclists to use the road infrastructure to travel – even if there are already cycling paths already available at these locations.

That, according to Reker, would allow cyclists to keep a distance between each other and would, in the end, be of use to everyone – as it would provide for more space for even more cycling enthusiasts. To achieve this, however, the mayor believes that the safety of riders must first be ensured, which would mean the imposition of 30 kilometres per hour speed limit on many of Cologne’s roads.

In order to achieve that, a letter has already been written to the Ministry of Transport of North-Rhine Westphalia in which Mayor Reker justifies why the cycling conditions in Cologne should quickly be rectified.

She cites figures that see a 50% reduction in car traffic within the urban area, accompanied by a 5% increase in cycling. Should the trend continue, bolder moves might also need to be taken by local authorities in order to ensure the safety of cyclists.

Should the Ministry of Transport agree to the mayor’s request, Reker is ready to take matters even further by adopting other individual measures that would improve cycling conditions in Cologne and make it an even more attractive mode of transport.

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