Even years after the start of planning, the construction or expansion of the planned commuter cycle routes in Rhineland-Palatinate is making slow progress. According to a determination made in 2014, there should be seven in total in the country - none have been completely completed to date.
The basic idea of commuter cycle routes is that people can cycle to their workplace on a continuous cycle path that is at least three meters wide and separated from other road users. Accordingly, the country has developed certain standards for these routes.
Network planned to be 374 kilometers long
The seven commuter cycle routes are to be created in areas where a particularly large number of people can commute to their jobs and training places. The routes are intended to connect city centers, commercial areas, schools, universities and train stations for cyclists, as the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Transport in Mainz announced.
Several of the routes are being developed in the Palatinate: between Worms and Wörth via Ludwigshafen and Speyer, between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße and between Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl. A route should connect Konz, Trier and Schweich. Additional routes are being built between Koblenz and Boppard and from Koblenz to the North Rhine-Westphalia state border. A section of the route between Mainz and Bingen in Rheinhessen has already been opened. In total, the route network will be 374 kilometers long.
As many existing cycle paths as possible should be used for commuter cycle routes. Some of these need to be expanded and adapted to the standards of commuter cycle routes. The respective construction authorities, i.e. the municipalities through whose area the commuter cycle routes run, are responsible for the expansion of individual sections.
High coordination effort
The ministry explains that many individual measures would have to be agreed upon and coordinated: “The technical coordination is very time-consuming and complex in detail.” Among other things, conflicts with other users of the paths, such as farmers or pedestrians, would have to be ruled out.
Financing also needs to be clarified. For this purpose, municipalities can apply for funding from the state and federal government and receive advice from the State Office for Mobility (LBM). However, there is no separate annual budget in the state budget for commuter cycle routes.
The regional associations of the German Transport Club (VCD) and the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) criticize the complicated implementation. Since the commuter cycle routes lead through areas of numerous municipalities, many different actors are responsible for planning and implementation, explains Robert Wöhler, managing director of the ADFC Rhineland-Palatinate.
Call for more central planning
The whole thing is so lengthy because there is no central planning, implementation and financing run by the state, says Claudia Kunz from VCD Rhineland-Palatinate. For example, the reconstruction of the Ahr cycle path showed that the State Office for Mobility (LBM) could bear the combined responsibility for the construction of cycle paths, adds Wöhler.
Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Eder is also calling for the commuter cycle routes to be planned and built under state responsibility in the future. This would also relieve municipalities of the burden of maintaining commuter cycle routes.
Another point is that cycling is not a mandatory task for municipalities, criticize the VCD and ADFC. When budgets are tight, expanding commuter routes is not on the priority list, complains Kunz from the VCD. In addition, the route in Bingen leads primarily along the Rhine and not to the commuters' homes and workplaces in the districts and in the commercial area.
Criticism of path width
According to the ministry, planning and implementation for the seven routes started at very different times. Individual municipalities have already implemented measures, such as the city of Koblenz, the Rhine-Mosel municipality or the city of Speyer. The route between Konz and Schweich via Trier has been gradually expanded since 2023. For other routes, the individual municipalities would still have to coordinate with each other.
A section of the route between Mainz and Bingen has been in operation for two years. The second section to Mainz is to be expanded “gradually” from 2027, according to the ministry.
According to VCD information, areas that have already been opened have deficiencies: the intended width of three meters is only achieved in a few sections, and in some cases paths are only 2.20 meters wide. The VCD also criticizes that cyclists have to give way to cars at roundabouts and road crossings. This means it is hardly possible to drive quickly on the route.
Planned completion by 2030 is unclear
In the “Rhineland-Palatinate Cycling Development Plan 2030”, the state has set itself the goal of completing all seven commuter cycle routes by 2030. When asked, the ministry now says that due to existing imponderables, “reliable time-wise statements are not possible” as to when exactly all routes will be finished.
