Construction project for a new road and bridge scheduled, replacing Tannenbergstrasse.

Title: Stay Abreast of Bergisch Gladbach: "Daily Digest in GL"

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Sign up for our free newsletter nowThe city council proposes to bridge the gap created by the closure of Tannenbergstraße railway underpass following the S11 expansion with a large, arched roadway across the tracks. This is according to a comprehensive draft for the extraordinary transport committee meeting.

However, several questions remain unanswered.

With the expansion of the S-Bahn to a second track and a 5-minute interval, the north-south connection at the Tannenbergstraße crossing becomes obsolete. Although this has been clear for some time, it wasn't until pressure from go.Rheinland pushed the city of Bergisch Gladbach to take action that a potential solution began to materialize.

Let's talk city business

On Tuesday, the transport committee will convene an unusual extraordinary meeting. Over the weekend, the city administration shared a detailed resolution proposal with the local politicos.

It's vital, as stated by go.Rheinland's CEO, Norbert Reinkober, to have a clear and, ideally, unanimous city council vote to avoid delays or risks to the mega-project.

An engineering firm has explores several solution options, and from this, the administration has recommended the following:

They advocate for a new roadway that links from the turnaround at a branch of the Britannia hut via a new bridge over the train tracks to the so-called "Gleisdreieck" (Am Kuhlerbusch), then runs parallel to the train tracks to Tannenbergstraße and connects there to Kalkstraße. The bridge will accommodate trucks, cars, bicycles, and pedestrians.

Supporters of this solution argue that it would not significantly burden any nearby streets that are already heavily congested.

As before, traffic will be directed from north to south via the Kalkstraße, then be guided via Dechant-Müller-Straße towards Gronau and Refrath or via Driescher roundabout into the city center. The engineering firm's estimate indicates that closing Buchholzstraße for motorized traffic and allowing only bicycle and pedestrian traffic might even be possible.

The Old Railway Embankment Remains a Conundrum

However, the large bridge solution depends on the acceptance and implementation of the railway track cessation on the old railway embankment, which is under review by the Federal Railway Authority. The city of Bergisch Gladbach has no direct influence over this process, the administration notes. In some circumstances, the wish of the Rhine-Industrial Railway Museum e.V. to operate historical trains on the track could hinder the cessation.

If this permit is denied, the bridge and track layout would remain; however, a new signaled railway crossing would be required at the crossing of the old railway embankment track.

Costs and their distribution between the city and the railway are unknown at this time. The city anticipates that the majority of expenses will be covered by the federal government, the state, and/or the railway.

It's still undetermined if the bridge solution can be feasibly constructed within the narrow surroundings by the engineering firm.

The alternatives relate to the Buchholzstraße. In the meantime, the railway has suggested significantly expanding the underpass there to accommodate traffic from Tannenbergstraße. However, this would necessitate accessing private properties, removing all trees, and demolishing parking spots. Additionally, traffic would then be directed into the Stationsstraße, which the city rejected due to impracticality and counterproductiveness.

According to the engineering office, there are indeed other alternatives that are technically and practically feasible. However, they would inevitably increase the burden on other nearby streets, potentially resulting in increased congestion in the city center. This could impact the Stationsstraße or Buchholzstraße, for instance.

"We haven't dismissed the idea of a railway overpass frivolously," explains the project's first deputy mayor, Ragnar Migenda. The S11 expansion, in light of the repurposing of the Zanders site, is "the key future project for this city," Migenda states. However, it should not create significant issues for vehicle and truck traffic.

The public meeting of the committee for mobility and traffic areas will take place on Tuesday at 2 PM in the Bensberg council chamber.

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The proposal to bridge the gap caused by the Tannenbergstraße railway underpass closure, part of the S11 expansion, is being discussed in the extraordinary transport committee meeting. This includes the recommendation for a new roadway that links from the Britannia hut turnaround via a new bridge over the train tracks to the Gleisdreieck, accommodating various modes of transportation.
The finance industry's involvement in the project becomes relevant as the costs and their distribution between the city and the railway are unknown at this time, with the anticipation that the majority of expenses will be covered by the federal government, the state, and/or the railway. Additionally, the city's plan to bridge the transportation gap in the industry sector could be affected by the possibility of increased congestion in the city center with some alternative solutions.