Berlin: Car-free summer streets are coming

A few weeks ago, Berlin's transport senator Bettina Jarasch (Greens) announced her plan for the establishment of car-free summer streets in the capital. They are to remain temporarily closed to motorised traffic and thus create more space for the community - as well as making a major contribution to environmental and health protection at the same time. Where residents suffer too much from harmful motor exhaust fumes and increased air pollution levels, on the other hand, they will be able to "experience the street space without the predominance of motor vehicle traffic today" as part of the project - explains the Senate Department for Mobility. 

For the authorities, however, there is much to be done in cooperation with the neighbourhoods and citizens' associations before the initiative can get off the ground next summer. Only the district office of Pankow seems to have clearer ideas and already names the first streets that could participate. Unlike the districts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Mitte and Tempelhof-Schöneberg, for example, where no precise plans were available at the beginning of the year, the Green parliamentary group in Prenzlauer Berg already has its own list of streets.  

The following traffic routes, according to parliamentary group chair Hannah Wettig, could be selected for this, namely: Stargarder Straße in the section between Schönhauser Allee and Pappelallee, Oderberger Straße between Eberswalder Straße and Kastanienallee, Hufelandstraße in the section between Greifswalder Straße and Bötzowstraße and finally Rykestraße in the section between Sredzkistraße and Knaackstraße. Additional play streets and other traffic-calmed areas could also be considered.  

In Pankow, incidentally, this is the second attempt to get such a traffic exclusion scheme off the ground - with the aim of reducing vehicle emissions where they cause bad air, especially in the warmer periods. A kind of "heat-resistant infrastructure", including the now so-called summer roads, to protect the population from unhealthy heat and car exhaust. However, after the temporary failure of a similar initiative for a car-free Friedrichstraße, there are many doubts about whether they should be extended to other parts of Berlin - even if in the case of the summer streets it is only a seasonal driving ban. 

Is completely locking out cars for the summer weeks really the most effective measure the city can take against air pollution and climate change? How can the health and environmental benefits be weighed against the resulting disadvantages for motorists? On the other hand, would citizens and the climate benefit more if the Berlin authorities adopted other traffic measures, such as stricter environmental zones? For these, if permanently in force, could ban the most polluting vehicles from entering the area without completely shutting down traffic. Other countries, such as Italy and France, have for years relied on a combination of permanent and additional temporary environmental zones, which are activated either only when pollution limits are exceeded or during the winter months. In Paris and Bordeaux, vehicles are banned from driving in the city centre on the first Sunday of every month - with success and great acceptance. 

Initially, however, there is always a lot of criticism when it comes to measures that restrict traffic and the driving behaviour of citizens. However, the benefits are undeniable, prompting the district of Pankow and the rest of Berlin to reconsider the introduction of summer and car-free streets. Whether and which ones they will end up being remains to be seen.