A highway for bicycles? Baden-Württemberg announces 20 new projects

The flagship Heidelberg-Schwetzingen cycling expressway will link the university town with commuter areas and relieve pressure from the rail and public transport infrastructure

Last week, authorities in the German state of Baden-Württemberg announced they have the go-ahead for funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport for 20 bicycle infrastructure initiatives. The total length of the projects is supposed to be around 110 kilometres and all projects should be completed by 2030.   

The flagship Heidelberg-Schwetzingen cycling expressway will connect the university town’s city centre of Heidelberg with nearby commuter towns. The connection will bypass rail lines, as well as highways and it will offer cyclists a car-free, pedestrian-free commute. Authorities estimate that it will service around 2,900 trips daily, which will ease the burden on rail and public transport.

The project will cost just under 800,000 euros, with 75% of the funds coming from the federal government and the rest – from the state government. The planning stages of the route, on the other hand, will be carried out by the municipalities of Heidelberg, Eppelheim, Plankstadt and Schwetzingen.

Cycling expressways – a new norm for Baden-Württemberg

The concept of cycling expressways is gaining ground rapidly, as an alternative to car commutes from smaller towns in metropolitan areas. They have a couple of attributes that differentiate them from normal bicycle lanes and, actually, they function more like what we could expect from highways.

Their main features include the fact that they are wide, with little stops and crossings. At the same time, according to a statement by Baden-Württemberg authorities, they will be separated from other road users, especially pedestrians. Furthermore, the state has also said that they will be specifically maintained more like roads than other paths, which includes winter maintenance.

As cities across Europe start to move away from car-centric infrastructure and bicycles become more prominent as a form of urban mobility, cycling infrastructure will start to evolve to accommodate the influx.

Already, Vienna has announced the construction of a major cycling highway connecting Donaustadt, on the far side of the Danube, to the city centre. Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo also launched a similar, though way more radical, campaign to pedestrianize the city centre of the French capital, which now includes major cycling routes.