Post photo: cyclist | © Pixabay
By that I don't mean "bucking up and stepping down", but in this article I'm referring to the fellow citizens who have decided to cycle in and around Heilbronn.
First of all, cycling has always been a challenge in Heilbronn, at least as long as I can remember.
In my time it was common for us Heilbronners to start with a tricycle, switch to a scooter and then get our first bicycle with training wheels. And as soon as you could ride a bike properly and independently, it was time to get your bike license while you were still in elementary school. Balancing and driving slowly were the biggest challenges, because we were all very good at dashing around corners.
In the beginning, for us city kids, the bicycle was a new toy with which one could do a lot of mischief on the street; Of course, we pushed the bikes on the sidewalks, because that was a matter of honor at the time. Later, the bike was more of a means of getting to the surrounding villages, because it was always better and more comfortable to walk within Heilbronn.
My original enthusiasm for cycling was stopped very early on by a tree, which not only destroyed my first bike, but left lasting memories with me to this day and also made me an enthusiastic pedestrian.
Two of my schoolmates who rode bikes were less fortunate, the first was run over by a truck with his school-leaving certificate in hand and the second was overlooked by a grandmother in the car during his daily bike training, which regularly took him from Heilbronn to Waldenburg and back again he luckily survived but ended his sporting career abruptly.
Today, Heilbronn is still the same city, but the number of bicycles and their uses has clearly increased or changed significantly. You are no longer safe from fellow citizens on footpaths or even forest paths; People, dogs and deer are frightened by off-road bikes with auxiliary motors breaking out of the bushes and hedges, on which young people and sprightly pensioners are whizzing through the woods and fields. Even the pedestrian zone has become a Mecca for rowdy bike enthusiasts who have certainly never heard of mutual consideration.
On the other hand, cycling acquaintances, friends and also my better half report hair-raising situations when trying to follow designated cycle paths through Heilbronn.
Therefore, I would like to remind everyone of the following: The basis of any coexistence is mutual consideration, and in the case mentioned, the duty of the stronger or faster to pay particular attention to other road users. First come the children, the elderly, people with visible disabilities and then the rest of the pedestrians. Then the cyclists and rail vehicles. Finally the motorcycles, cars and finally buses and trucks.
With that and a little more friendliness, everyday life in Heilbronn should also be easier to master!
But that does not undo the fact that the current cycle path design in and around Heilbronn is suboptimal and clearly in need of improvement.
I think the idea of creating expressways for bicycles outside the city area is a good one. But you also have to make sure that these are then suitable for bicycles and are not connected to agricultural paths, because that creates unnecessary dangerous situations.
When they end in the city of Heilbronn, these express cycle lanes, like motorways, must not end at a wall, but they must divert the incoming traffic smoothly into the city, even if it is "only" cyclists. In addition, there must be sufficient parking space for bicycles, as for cars, from which cyclists can continue on foot.
The fact that the cycle path network in Heilbronn itself is more like a patchwork quilt, which also consists more of holes than carpet and whose respective beginnings and ends are sometimes dangerous to the public, does not have to be told to the cyclists.
However, since the existing Heilbronn transport infrastructure will hardly increase in terms of area in the coming decades, I do not think it is a solution to further divide the available space among the various road users. Therefore I propose the following:
The existing inner-city cycle lanes, apart from existing and actually functioning cycle express lanes, will either be re-added to the road or to the sidewalk. However, these are prepared in such a way that they can be used easily and safely by all road users.
Flowing and especially stationary traffic (parking on sidewalks!) must always give priority to the “weaker” vehicle, which will hardly cause any problems in times when 30 km/h is favored in the city centre.
Bicycles are then even overtaken on the avenue with sufficient distance, if they are not snaking through the traffic jam there themselves. But cyclists are also beginning to be considerate again and, if they prefer the pedestrian zone to the avenue, ultimately push their bike a few meters or give way to pedestrians on the sidewalk.
If you now object that this would not be possible in Heilbronn, then I can assure you that there are already working models in the Heilbronn district, where even all road users share the same traffic space.
Finally, to get to the point again: First, we need a street space without potholes and obstacles that can be recognized and used as such by all road users. Secondly, the sidewalks, which will hopefully be well developed, will also be open to cyclists, but they will be aligned with pedestrians there. And thirdly, there must be sufficient parking space for bikes as well as for cars.
And dear cyclists, if you don't dare to ride your bike on the avenue, then you don't have to take your frustration out on pensioners or even children in the pedestrian zone. Because, as already mentioned at the beginning, riding a bike is by no means "bucking up and pedaling down".
Auch Detlef Stern has already gained experience with the bike in Heilbronn and this in the blog post "From everyday pedestrian to everyday cyclist' (October 2019).
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."
Albert Einstein, Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007: 367)
