Cars will soon be back on Friedrichstrasse – but only temporarily

Traffic will soon be rolling again on a section of Friedrichstrasse in Berlin that has been car-free for more than two years – at least for a while. The Berlin Senate Department for the Environment and Mobility announced on Monday that it would not lodge a complaint with the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) against a decision made by the administrative court two weeks ago.

Rather, one wants to follow the instructions of the judges and lift the blocking of cars in a good two weeks until further notice. Previously, all seating, planting and street furniture would be removed "by the end of November 22nd" insofar as they obstruct car traffic. This also applies to the cycle lanes set up on the street.

On October 24, the administrative court declared the continued blocking of a 500-meter stretch of Friedrichstrasse near Gendarmenmarkt to be illegal. The Senate Department for Mobility could have lodged a complaint with the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) by this Tuesday.

Although that is not happening now, Senator for the Environment and Mobility Bettina Jarasch (Greens) made it clear that she is sticking to the plans for a Friedrichstrasse without cars. According to the information, she hopes that the ongoing process at the Mitte district office to permanently convert the street into a pedestrian zone will be completed by the end of the year. Immediately afterwards, traffic will be permanently removed from Friedrichstrasse.

After that, a redesign of the urban space should take place, which also includes the area around the street. "A design competition that takes the entire area into account is in preparation," says Jarasch. "I want Friedrichstrasse to develop into a lively, modern urban space - a place where people like to go and where they like to stay."

In connection with the plans, Charlottenstrasse, which runs parallel to Friedrichstrasse, is expected to be turned into a bicycle road by the end of November. Car through traffic will then be excluded there by opposing one-way streets. Residents and suppliers could continue to use the road with vehicles, and access to multi-storey car parks would also remain possible.

FDP parliamentary group leader Sebastian Czaja criticized that Jarasch wanted to create new facts by declassifying the street without having a real concept. "The fact that Senator Jarasch is primarily concerned with a culture war against the car instead of a solution-oriented transport policy is slowly becoming a problem for our city."

The traffic test for the "Friedrichstrasse promenade" between French and Leipziger Strasse, which has always been controversial in Berlin, began in August 2020. Since then, cars have been taboo on a 500-meter-long section with many shops, including the Galeries Lafayette department store. However, the hoped-for upswing for the shopping street - which at times overtook the Ku'damm but later had increasing problems - has not materialized so far.

A wine merchant with a shop in Charlottenstrasse had complained about the ongoing closure. She did not want to accept that no cars were allowed to drive on Friedrichstrasse, even though the year-long traffic trial ended in October 2021.

In its urgent decision, the court found that there was no legal basis for the ongoing closure in the road traffic regulations. Road traffic authorities could therefore restrict or ban the use of certain routes for the sake of safety and traffic order, but not for a better quality of stay.

In the past few days there had been talks behind the scenes of the red-green-red Senate about how to proceed. In addition to Jarasch, the governing mayor Franziska Giffey, urban development senator Andreas Geisel (both SPD) and economics senator Stephan Schwarz (non-party) were involved.

If Jarasch had gone before the Higher Administrative Court, this might have led to further arguments and turbulence in the Senate after Giffey and Jarasch had exchanged blows two weeks ago following the decision of the administrative court. The appeal to the next instance would have had a suspensive effect, so the blocking of cars would have remained in place for the time being. However, the Berlin Senate would have risked the next legal gossip before the OVG.