The idea of a long cycle path under the Berlin U-Bahn line 1 has been discussed for a long time, and there will be a short test route next year. As early as this week, action days in Kreuzberg should provide a foretaste, remind you of the plan and arouse curiosity.
Since Wednesday there has been an exhibition, lectures, music, flower beds, seats and a bicycle repair stand 50 meters under the elevated railway line. The organizer is the Reallabor Radbahn initiative, with which the Senate is collaborating on the subject.
In the summer of 2023, a 250-meter-long cycle path is to be built under the subway as a test. The exact date is not fixed yet.
However, the goal of the initiative is a nine-kilometer cycle path under or along the U1 from the Zoo station in West Berlin to the Schlesisches Tor and the Oberbaum Bridge in Kreuzberg. On this “radbahn”, as the initiative calls it, cyclists should be protected from the rain and be able to ride separately from other traffic.
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However, there are difficulties because many stations interrupt the route, there are large crossings and roundabouts and the space under the raised tracks has often been used by parked cars.
Whether the idea will ever be realized remains to be seen. The Senate Transport Administration and the federal government are funding the project with 3.3 million euros.
