Chaos in traffic: when finally solutions for Berlin's City West?

Chaos in traffic: when finally solutions for Berlin's City West?

The traffic situation in Berlin's City West has been tense for years, especially around Breitscheidplatz. Despite numerous tragic events, including the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, the painful memories of the devastating attack on Breitscheidplatz on December 19, 2016, politicians in Berlin failed to implement the traffic concept that has long been available. The past ten years have been characterized by dramatic accidents such as the fatal accident in Tauentzienstraße in May 2024, in which a woman died and injured several people, as well as the tragic incident in February 2016. development city.de reported, that the urgency of a new traffic concept has long been recognized, but those responsible for the SPD, Greens, Left and CDU do not pay attention to the traffic problems in this strongly visited area.

Currently Senate and District Office are working on a traffic concept that is intended to increase security around Breitscheidplatz. It is planned to reduce car traffic and to change the road guide to prevent amoking. The first designs stipulate that the confluence of the Rankestrasse is changed so that driving to Breitscheidplatz is no longer possible. Tempolimits and new traffic light regulations should force vehicles to drive more slowly and make the area safer. Traffic city councilor Oliver Schruoffeger emphasized that since the failure of the Berlin lettering, a clear progress in the development of a security concept has been made. The discussion about more security has been re-lived up since the amoking in June 2023, which resulted in numerous injuries and a death. As the Berliner Week reported, request initiatives and District prescribed for a long time the quick implementation of security measures for Breitscheidplatz.

The necessary measures are overdue because political inhabitants are increasingly criticized. Politicians from the SPD and FDP are dissatisfied with the current plans and emphasize that a comprehensive traffic concept is necessary that increases the quality of stay without making the city vests a fortress. While progress has been made in other Berlin areas, Breitscheidplatz remains a security risk that is notoriously ignored. The question remains when politics will finally act and whether the proposed measures will be sufficient in response to the repeated alarming incidents.