Thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin with a rally to improve the conditions for cycling. On Sunday, for example, they were out and about on the 115 (Avus) motorway with their bikes.
According to police estimates, around 15,000 people took part, and the ADFC bicycle club spoke of around 30,000 people. A police spokeswoman advised avoiding the city center by car because there could be partial closures.
The cycling club ADFC called for 18 routes through the city and via the motorway to the Großer Stern. The Berlin Senate and the districts should be asked to “implement the traffic turnaround and finally roll out the cycle network throughout the city,” it said in a statement.
On Twitter, many complained that many media reported about “road closures” even though so many people were out there, just on bikes and exceptionally not in cars.
Since early Sunday morning, people have been cycling from Brandenburg and from the outskirts of Berlin to the city center on 18 routes to the Großer Stern, where there will be a final rally and a street festival in the afternoon. Participants can join anywhere, even in between. There is a shorter children’s route for children and parents.
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Some drivers even started on Saturday evening: A feeder tour is coming from Stettin in Poland, which drove through the night.
At 5.15 a.m., a dozen cyclists set off from the Zoo train station – first by train to Frankfurt (Oder).
There the road bike tour to Berlin began at 6.45 a.m., an express route with a speed of 25 kilometers per hour.
A night tour started in Leipzig at 12:45 a.m. In Dessau it started at 3.45 a.m.
The routes coming from all directions come together in Berlin to form two main strands. One leads via the Avus from Kreuz Zehlendorf to City-West, the other via the A100 from Neukölln and Tempelhof.
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Both strands come together at Dreieck Funkturm and follow the city motorway to the Kaiserdamm exit.
This means a significantly longer passage on the A100 compared to previous years – and compensation for the ban on driving through the Britzer Tunnel.
