Hesse: cyclists on the highway: referendum for traffic change

Frankfurt/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - This Sunday, organizers and supporters want to launch the planned referendum for a traffic turnaround in Hesse with a bicycle parade across the autobahn.

Hesse: cyclists on the highway: referendum for traffic change

Frankfurt/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - This Sunday, organizers and supporters want to launch the planned referendum for a traffic turnaround in Hesse with a bicycle parade across the autobahn. They want to cycle from Frankfurt via the A648 and the A66 to the Hessian state capital. 5,000 to 10,000 participants are expected to take part in the bicycle demo. The police expect "considerable traffic obstructions" in the entire Rhine-Main area. A cycle rally from Friedberg, Hanau and Darmstadt leads to the starting point of the motorway section at the Frankfurt Trade Fair.

The signatures for the referendum are to be brought to Wiesbaden on cargo bikes, where the Hessian Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) is to receive them in the afternoon. The aim of the referendum is a traffic turning law, with which mobility in Hesse is to be made climate-neutral and socially just by 2030. Cycle paths, footpaths and, above all, buses and trains are to be greatly expanded. In a first step, around 44,000 signatures had to be collected.

The police warned that the closure of the A66 would result in traffic being displaced on the A3 and A5 as well as in through roads. Traffic jams must also be expected on the motorways due to holiday travel. The police called for the area to be bypassed over a wide area and unnecessary journeys along the route and their alternatives not to be made.

Until the end, the Autobahn GmbH tried to prevent the bike demonstration on the Autobahn. On Friday, an urgent application against the action before the administrative court in Wiesbaden was rejected. On the other hand, Autobahn GmbH filed a complaint with the Hessian Administrative Court in Kassel on Saturday. A decision is expected in the evening, said a spokesman for the administrative court.