Ring free

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#RingFrei is a citizens' initiative that has been active since October 2015 , which successfully advocates better and therefore safer mobility for pedestrians and cyclists as well as a higher quality of stay at the Cologne Rings . It is now known far beyond Cologne and was awarded the German Bicycle Prize 2019.

The focus of the requirements, which were summarized in a 10-point plan , is the shift of bicycle traffic from the sidewalk to the right-hand lane of the road , an independent and continuous cycle lane (cycle lane) - from the Bayenturm to the bastion  - the reorganization of parking in favor of loading zones and bicycle parking spaces and the limitation of the speed to 30 km / h.

#RingFrei initiated and accompanied the transformation process of the nearly 7.5 kilometer long boulevard as a broad alliance of business people, neighborhood, citizens from the field of pedestrian and bicycle traffic , whereby the cooperation with planners, administrative level and politics is considered exemplary. The demands of #RingFrei became part of the bicycle traffic concept for the inner city of Cologne in 2016 under this name.

Implemented # RingFrei measure on Sachsenring in the direction of Ulrepforte / Chlodwigplatz
The 95 centimeter wide cycle path on Hohenstaufenring at the level of the Zülpicher Straße tram stop in the direction of Rudolfplatz, which was subject to use until October 4, 2018

In the meantime (2019), essential requirements such as Tempo 30 (in large parts), the lifting of the obligation to use cycle lanes as well as two sections and a pilot route have been implemented. Almost complete implementation is planned for 2020.

history

The #RingFrei initiative was preceded by several attempts at the beginning of the 2000s to make central sections of the Cologne rings more attractive and safer by redistributing the traffic areas, in particular by relocating the built cycle path.

precursor

"Ring free" - bicycle demonstration (1993)

On May 8, 1993, the second large Cologne bicycle demonstration with 2,000 participants took place under the motto "Cologne on the bike - ring free for cyclists" and addressed the most conflicting route in Cologne's urban area for cyclists at that time, the Cologne rings.

Traffic experiment: Blocking of the rings on weekends "Ring free" (2002)

As a result of the tragic death of the son of the then Lord Mayor Fritz Schramma's on Pilgrimstrasse on March 31, 2001 - he was the victim of an illegal street race - the building and transport committee of the Cologne city ​​council decided in 2002 to close the rings on weekends after long political discussions Rudolfplatz and Friesenplatz .

From July 7, 2002, this section was then blocked from Friday 9:00 p.m. to Saturday 5:00 a.m. and Saturday from 9:00 p.m. to Monday 5:00 a.m. The administration provided information about this with a brochure entitled Ring frei .

The traffic test was designed for a year, but was stopped three months later due to complaints from residents and business people, although the number of accidents decreased significantly and there were no surreptitious traffic . In a speech in 2005, Fritz Schramma quoted this study by the Aachen University of Technology , stating that the blockade "effectively stopped traffic and street races".

Traffic test "Rings" - single lane between Rudolfplatz and Ehrenstraße (2004–2012)

On August 16, 2004, the bike path was experimentally relocated to a length of 200 meters on what was then the parking lane, thereby increasing the footpath and recreational area. In addition, the right-hand lane in this section was redesigned into a “multi-purpose lane”: During rush hour it was used as a lane and outside for loading, delivering and parking.

This attempt was preceded by extensive public participation and it ultimately went without the traffic jams predicted by critics. The results were incorporated into a nationwide study on loading and delivery, published by the Federal Highway Research Institute .

Planned redesign of the Hohenzollernring (2005–2008)

With the "Ring Symposium - The future of the Rings as a bridge between the old, business and residential city" on 17 March 2005, a more extensive process began with the participation of the interest group IG Ring e. V., residents, business people, politics and administration.

He produced a design for the redesign of the Hohenzollernring , which was intended to create more space and quality of stay for pedestrians and cyclists alike. In contrast to the “Rings” traffic experiment, the full length of the cycle path should no longer be on the sidewalk, but in the area of ​​the parking lane and widened to two meters. In addition, the intersections Rudolfplatz and Friesenplatz should be redesigned - in particular, the free-running right-turns should be removed . The city planner Dieter Prinz developed the design for it.

In order to implement this draft, politicians assumed that the approx. 30 residents would contribute 50 percent to the costs, which were ultimately estimated at over 1.6 million euros. The prerequisite for this would have been the establishment of a real estate and location community . It failed, so the then Councilor for Urban Development, Planning and Construction , Bernd Streitberger , because the minimum rate of residents was not achieved this.

Program "Redesign of Rings" (2010–2011)

On April 20, 2010, the structural redesign was decided in line with the road test started in 2004 and was finally implemented in 2011. However, not the entire section of the cycle path on the structural high board from Rudolfplatz to Ehrenstrasse or from Flanderische Strasse in the direction of Rudolfplatz was renewed and widened from 0.95 to 1.6 meters over a length of 100 meters, but the first and last 20 Meters remained in their previous, narrower condition. This did not correspond to the current and binding recommendations for bicycle traffic facilities (ERA 2010) .

Interdisciplinary planning workshop in Kölner Ringstrasse (2011-2013)

The widths for cycle paths (1.6 and 2.5 meters) required by the ERA 2010 are shown in the Hansaring section.

As part of the master plan for Cologne city center , the development of an overall concept for the further development of Cologne's ring roads was recommended. For this purpose, an interdisciplinary planning workshop was carried out from April to September 2011, in which teams of city ​​planners , architects, landscape architects and transport planners took part. In addition, a traffic report was prepared that examined the local public transport , the pedestrian areas, the cycle path concept and the handling of delivery traffic . This process resulted in the "Guideline for Cologne Ring Roads" and documented that the traffic areas had to be rearranged and given sufficient widths in favor of pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Foundation of #RingFrei (2015)

The alliance #RingFrei founded before and around the demonstration "Stop killing cyclists" to the October 7, 2015, Cologne cycling associations and groups of ADFC , Agora Cologne, feeder ride , RadKomm , REWK and VCD as well as the local chapter of Bündnis 90 Die Grünen and the electoral group called your friends .

This was preceded by a week of tragic accidents caused by trucks turning right. One cyclist was killed and another was seriously injured after being hit by a truck at the Hohenzollernring / Beethovenstrasse intersection. In addition, other cyclists and one pedestrian were injured.

Also under the impression of these events, Reinhold Goss from Cologne created an online petition , which was addressed to the City Council of Cologne , so that the situation for cyclists on the rings would improve significantly as a result. This ultimately found over 2,000 supporters. At the same time, Goss forwarded the suggestion belonging to the petition to the Cologne City Council's committee for suggestions and complaints.

On October 26, 2015, the initiative, supported by ADFC Cologne, invited to a public event, where the 10-point plan that is still valid today was drawn up. Its implementation, according to the joint press release from ADFC and VCD, “enables all cyclists from 8 to 80 years of age to ride safely on the road. [...] 'By dismantling the old cycle path, pedestrians will also have a promenade with lavish outdoor dining based on Parisian and Viennese models, as Albert Speer's master plan for the city of Cologne already provides'. "

Action, networking and day of action

Media attention affects politics and administration

The tragic events and the activities of the initiative had an impact on politics. Just one day after the adoption of the 10-point plan, on October 27, 2015, the Transport Committee of the Cologne Council unanimously requested the administration to move forward with the lifting of the cycle route obligation in Cologne, as quickly as possible on the rings. This measure is intended to bring cyclists into the driver’s field of vision .

On December 16, 2015, the initiative showed the film BIKES vs CARS in the Odeon cinema in Cologne . This was followed by a discussion with Heike Aghte (EUGENT European Society for Deceleration), Dr. Ulrich Soénius (Deputy Managing Director of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry ), Hans-Günter Grawe (the then retailer and spokesman for the furnishing mile Cologne Rings) and Christoph Schmidt (Director of the ADFC Cologne). The discussion was chaired by Helmut Frangenberg (editor at Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger ).

This event, as well as the media reporting on it, led - again only one day later, on December 17, 2015 - the head of the Road and Transport Office, Klaus Harzendorf, to announce in a newspaper article the lifting of the obligation to use cycle lanes on the rings for the end of 2016.

However, politics and administration dampened the associated expectations and the initiative intensified its public relations work .

Politics sets the course with a #RingFree workshop, Eklats

On April 21, 2016, the district council of the city ​​center commissioned the administration in an urgent application to carry out a workshop to improve and upgrade traffic in the sense of sustainable traffic planning for the rings. The Transport Committee decided on June 14, 2016 that the results of this workshop should be incorporated into the cycling concept for downtown Cologne.

The workshop then met for the first time on July 5, 2016 with the participation of the ADFC, VCD, the transport policy spokesmen of the city center district representative and the transport committee, the representatives of the Cologne police and the public order office, the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the team of the bicycle officer around Jürgen Möllers, as well as the trunk line. In the run-up to this appointment, there was a scandal : The administration asked the initiative in an email to cover the workshop costs in the amount of 5,000 euros.

Only a few weeks later, the administration surprisingly applied a protective strip to the Hansaring , which neither corresponded to the 10-point plan nor had it been agreed during the workshop. This approach caused great outrage among the initiative and the ADFC Cologne. The newly marked traffic routing at the intersection of Bremer Strasse / Hansaring / Adolf-Fischer-Strasse was also criticized because of the confusing number of different turning options for cyclists (“pattern of horror”) and a hidden traffic light.

Before the second workshop there was another scandal: the administration obviously suddenly set May 22, 2017 as the date for this; this was then canceled by the initiative because neither a binding schedule nor concrete solutions for implementing the ten-point plan had been discussed in advance.

Supporters and networking

Well-known Cologne residents support #RingFrei in an online campaign "Cologne Faces", u. a. the actress Liz Baffoe , the actor and presenter Thomas Hackenberg , the musician Björn Heuser , the comedian Markus Barth , the actress Yvonne de Bark , as well as the 1. FC Cologne stadium announcer Michael Trippel .

In the WDR show "Driving fun instead of traffic jam - Smarter mobile with bike and e-bike" from the series " Household Check " on May 18, 2016, Yvonne Willicks speaks very clearly for #RingFrei in Cologne.

Former Lord Mayor Juergen Roters on June 9, 2016 presents the third poster of the now three-piece # Ring Frei Poster series, here at the Friesenplatz.

At the Cologne bicycle congress RADKOMM on June 18, 2016, Lord Mayor Henriette Reker described "the ten-point plan, which includes tempo 30 on the rings, a traffic light switch tailored to cyclists and the elimination of the obligation to use cycle lanes , as well as the elimination of car parking spaces" as "absolutely necessary".

Further supporters are: ADFC Cologne, AGORA Cologne, advertising flash mob, Colabor, Greenpeace Cologne, Faradgang, KölnAgenda, Neuland, RADKOMM, stylemile.cologne (formerly furniture mile on the Cologne rings), student parliament of the University of Cologne .

In the meantime, #RingFrei has established itself as a constant when it comes to questions about inner-city cycling in Cologne and is one of the stakeholders of the communal forum “ZukunftsRadKöln”. The team of speakers consists of Reinhold Goss, Hans-Günter Grawe (consultant and "trader") and the 2nd chairwoman of the ADFC Cologne Carolin Ohlwein.

In addition, the initiative organizes public meetings with its supporters at irregular intervals, is in close professional exchange with the cycling group of the ADFC Cologne and has participated in the public discussion.

Reinhold Goss was twice a guest for #RingFrei at the Haus der Architektur in Cologne . Most recently in May 2017 at the invitation of Christl Dreyer and together with Angela Stolte-Neumann, the then head of the planning department in the Office for Roads and Traffic Technology. They reported on the status of planning and cooperation from the perspective of a planner or an initiative. It also dealt with the question of citizen participation in municipal planning processes. For example, from the beginning there had been different views of what a workshop actually was. It was also about leeway that an administration can and should use in the context of planning, as Goss put it: "If we seriously want a traffic turnaround, we have to show it here."

Day of action "We make the #RingFrei"

Blocked lane as part of the day of action "We make the #RingFrei" on September 16, 2017 near Rudolfplatz

On September 16, 2017, the alliance showed the public under the motto "We make the #RingFrei" in the section from Schaevenstraße to Friesenplatz at around 800 meters, how the conversion of a car lane into a bike lane is practically presented.

Goals, implementation and planning

The 10-point plan

The 10-point plan was handed over to the district mayor Andreas Hupke together with the petition at the meeting of the city center district council on January 28, 2016. In its meeting on March 3, 2016, the district council unanimously agreed to this and on June 14, 2016, the transport committee included it in the bicycle traffic concept for downtown Cologne.

  1. The cancellation of the obligation to use the Cologne Rings must be implemented immediately and without further delay. Apart from removing the signs (usually traffic sign 237 Sign 237 - special route cyclists, StVO 1992.svg), no further measures are initially required.
  2. Tempo 30 should apply to all lanes and the full length of the rings . Tempo 50 or a 30/50 mix are unacceptable.
  3. It is an understandable, consistent and uniform bicycle traffic management needs over the entire rings.
  4. One full lane (3.75 m wide) per direction should be provided for bicycle traffic. A net width of at least 2.75 m must also be available in narrow spaces.
  5. The wheel lane requires clear marking . The previous Cologne standard is not sufficient here.
  6. The switching of the traffic lights must be optimized for bicycle traffic. A green wave is desirable.
  7. A complete dismantling of the old bike paths is necessary. The square is to be made available to pedestrians as well as an extended restaurant and non-commercial seating areas.
  8. The parking spaces on the rings are to be converted into spacious loading zones as well as taxi stands and bicycle parking spaces. There is sufficient parking space for motorized vehicles in the surrounding multi-storey car parks.
  9. Particularly in the early days, intensive checks by the public order office will be required, both of the loading zones and of stopping and parking in the second row.
  10. The change must be accompanied by a broad campaign “Cycling is transport” .

Implementations (2016-2019)

The Theodor-Heuss-Ring in Cologne towards Ebertplatz in 2016 still without any cycling infrastructure
The same section of the Theodor-Heuss-Ring with the new cycle lane, which was inaugurated on July 2nd, 2018

It took almost exactly a year since the first announcement until the first measures at 500 meters for cyclists were implemented: On December 8, 2016, the obligation to use cycle lanes was lifted and Tempo 30 was ordered at the Hansaring from the Kümpchenshof intersection.

Removal of the obligation to use : The administration was requested to do this by the Transport Committee on October 27, 2015; it has been almost completely implemented on the rings since the beginning of 2019. Only on Barbarossaplatz in a southerly direction, in this course also at the end of the Ubierring and Ebertplatz in a northerly direction, there is still an obligation to use the cycle path on the sidewalk.

Tempo 30: On December 5, 2017, the Transport Committee commissioned the administration to set up Tempo 30 from the Ubierring to the Theodor-Heuss-Ring. This has been implemented except for the Ubierring and sections between the intersection of Eifelstrasse and Zülpicher Platz.

Own lane: Also at the meeting on December 5, 2017, the traffic committee decided to design all cycle traffic facilities as far as possible with a standard cross-section of 2.50 meters,

These measures are completed as of August 2019:

  • Zülpicher Strasse and Schaafenstrasse or Lindenstrasse sections: complete implementation of the requirements as part of the #RingFree pilot project
  • Theodor-Theodor-Heuss-Ring except for a section between Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer and An der Münze: In the direction of the Rhine, however, only a protective strip 2.25 meters wide could be applied due to the residents' parking.
  • Sachsenring: Due to the lack of a decision, the section between Brunostraße and Ulrepforte was only laid out with a protective strip with a width of 1.5 meters, which led to criticism, as the cycle lane is led too close to the parked cars and thus the risk of accidents for cyclists due to carelessness opened car doors rises.
  • Tempo 30 has been in effect on the entire rings from the Ubierring to the Theodor-Heuss-Ring since August 16, 2019.

"Struggle" for the quality of the third implementation stage (planned completion: 2020)

In July 2018, Andrea Blome , the councilor for mobility and transport infrastructure , announced in an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: “In the next few years, the entire rings will be redesigned to make them more cycling-friendly. This also applies to the north-south axis and Gladbacher Strasse between Ehrenfeld and the city center. There is a very strong need. "

On April 17, 2019, the administration presented plans for the third implementation stage to the political committees (transport committee and district council) for advice and coordination. Since the consultation sequence seemed relatively short and the questions of the proposed traffic routing seemed complex, the initiative invited visitors to drive on the entire rings on April 30, 2019. All transport policy spokespersons from the district council and the transport committee took part; Administration, IHK, ADAC, ADFC and VCD as well as experts from urban and traffic planning were also represented.

During the visit it became clear that there are many public and private educational institutions along the rings. Be it at the Hansaring the educational landscape Altstadt-Nord or around the Zülpicher Platz up to the Ubierring facilities like u. a. the Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln , the Gesamtschule IGIS , the Humboldt-Gymnasium , the Institut français and the Technische Hochschule Köln . In the aftermath, the knowledgeable resident in the traffic committee Gunda Wienke identified over 80 kindergartens, schools, universities, language schools and further training institutes that are located along or in the immediate vicinity of the rings. Regarding the rings as a campus was not an aspect that was in the political and traffic planning focus.

In the following meeting of the Transport Committee on May 2, 2019, the submission was dealt with under the impression of this inspection. "This template cannot be the end point for the development of the rings," said Andreas Pöttgen (SPD). He called for the compulsory use of the previous cycle path on the sidewalk to be completely lifted and for cyclists to improve traffic management on Barbarossaplatz. “As a politician, we can be a little braver than the original,” said Dirk Michel (CDU). The cyclists would have to be brought safely onto the street in order to improve the quality of stay on the rings at the same time. "We are all aware that the whole thing is not yet fully developed," said Lino Hammer (Greens). It should now be discussed how the template could be improved. Something needs to be changed at Barbarossaplatz. Michael Weisenstein (left) praised the citizens' initiative "Ring frei", which had developed the proposal to convert the rings, for their persistence. FDP parliamentary group leader Ralph Sterck warned against switching from one extreme to the other.

#RingFrei organized another meeting with political representatives in the run-up to the meeting of the city center district council on May 9, 2019 with the special technical support of the ADFC. The points of the administrative proposal that were regarded as critical were highlighted here. Thereupon the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen introduced an amendment that was supported by all parliamentary groups and groups except for the FDP . The administrative proposal was unanimously recommended with these changes to the Transport Committee for a corresponding vote on June 18, 2019.

However, after the administration made it clear in a statement that these recommendations for resolutions could hardly be implemented, a compromise was reached in a specially arranged meeting between the parties from administration, politics and the #RingFree initiative. This now ensures that the 10-point plan will be implemented to a very large extent in 2020. This result was confirmed on July 9, 2019 with only one vote against by the FDP in the transport committee of the City of Cologne.

criticism

The continuous conversion of a lane to a wheel lane by the IHK (2016), the Cologne House and Landowners Association (2018) and the ADAC (2019)

“Ulrich Soénius from the Chamber of Commerce - otherwise quite bicycle-friendly - is generally critical of the implementation on the rings. "These are central traffic routes, because it is difficult to remove a whole lane." [...] "You have to see it in terms of overall urban planning", [...] When asked by StadtRevue , the urban development department says that you have to examine the various uses. Different sections would also have to be viewed differently. "

The Cologne house and landowners association, on the other hand, fears that by concentrating on a purely traffic-related consideration of the rings, only "temporary solutions will be preferred to a holistic solution and that these will end up being in place for years" and therefore demands "a final re-planning of the Hohenzollernring as Beginning of remodeling rings ”.

Roman Suthold from ADAC Nordrhein e. V. emphasized that despite the offer, many cyclists would continue to ride on the sidewalk cycle path for safety reasons and also expressed their concern that without a well thought-out concept, traffic would collapse at Barbarossaplatz.

Parallel structures

Structural cycle path / new cycle track

It was not only the initiative that criticized the parallel structure, particularly in the area of ​​the pilot route, because within this section, both the existing “structural” cycle path on the sidewalk and the cycle lane on the roadway may be used.

In the planned implementation stage, “initially at all junctions, i. H. at least the first and last 10 meters before and after each junction, the cycle paths are removed by replacing the surface covering and the areas are made completely available to pedestrians by means of signs with the traffic sign "Walkway". Ultimately, the built-in cycle paths along the road are to be completely removed.

Rings / walls

It has been criticized on various occasions that the wheel lane on the rings and the planned rededication of the inner wall roads to a bicycle road would create an unnecessary parallel structure, said Ulrich Breite (FDP) on April 18, 2019, who also complained about a lack of investigation.

Retaining staff

It was also criticized that the bicycle-friendly conversion of the rings would tie up too many personnel resources in the bicycle commissioner's team.

Lack of protection of the wheel track

The ADFC Cologne criticized the lack of protection of the wheel lanes, at least in the inner city area, and advocated this z. B. to protect against driving over and unauthorized parking by bollards (" Protected Bike Lane "). Equally unacceptable is a design in which bicycle and motorized individual traffic are run together (“ shared bike lane ”). The basis must be a generation-appropriate design of the infrastructure to be created now, which can be used equally by eight to eighty-year-olds (" 8-80 cities ").

Bicycle switches

Bicycle switch at Zülpicherplatz.

In intersection areas, according to the current layout and planning, cyclists are guided over a bicycle switch between the straight-ahead and right-turning lanes. These wheel tracks are narrower on the rings than with the standard width of 2.50 meters. In a press campaign in 2018 , Changing Cities clearly criticized bicycle switches as unsuitable for the generations and dangerous, as cyclists, for example, can find themselves without a sufficient safety distance between two trucks.

Protective strips with too narrow widths

Sachsenring, Hansaring

Criticism of administration

Critics pointed out that the bike paths obligation to use its own initiative in 1998 should have been canceled throughout the city and at the latest by 2010. As confirmed the Federal Constitutional Court that there should be only one obligation to use for bicycle paths, if an extraordinary risk situation exists and the bike paths meet the minimum requirements .

Awards

On May 13, 2019, #RingFrei was awarded the German Bicycle Prize 2019 in the "Communication" category at the National Cycle Congress in Dresden . The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger commented: “The contrast could hardly be greater. In mid-April, Cologne came last in the bicycle climate test of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) in a comparison of metropolises with more than 500,000 inhabitants - a debacle for the city's transport policy. Just four weeks later, the Cologne campaign alliance "Ring frei" took first place in the German Bicycle Prize on Monday. "

See also

Web links

Commons : RingFrei  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Milan Gagnon: Cologne proposes bike-friendly main drag - to a point. In: Deutsche Welle. Retrieved October 23, 2017, May 7, 2019 (UK English).
  2. ↑ Judith Lueg: Who Owns the City? Zurich, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne: a reporting project. In: Reports # 36. August 16, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019 .
  3. ↑ The German Bicycle Prize 2019 Jury statement for the winning projects in the categories of infrastructure, service and communication. (PDF) In: The German Bicycle Prize. 2019, accessed May 20, 2019 .
  4. ^ Wienke Bellmann, Lena Erler, Andrea Fromberg, Peter Gwiasda, Dominik Tönnes, Franz Linder, Denis Kynast: Bicycle traffic concept for downtown Cologne. (PDF) April 19, 2016, pp. 37, 75 , accessed April 28, 2019 .
  5. ↑ The core area of ​​the rings will be redesigned to make it easier for cyclists. In: City of Cologne. April 17, 2019, accessed May 19, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Rheinschiene 21 edition 21/1998. In: VCD-Chronik 1988 - 1998. VCD-Köln, accessed on April 15, 2019 .
  7. ^ Accident at Rudolfplatz: Stephan Schramma was spanked to death. In: Express. April 3, 2012, accessed April 16, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Suggestions for ring blocking. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. May 28, 2002, accessed April 16, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Berti Waddey: Lifting the ring lock Ring free for the next round! In: VCD - Rheinschiene 30. 2002, accessed on May 18, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Fritz Schramma: Mayor Schramma's opening speech on the topic: “The rings - what significance do they have for Cologne today and in the future?” On the occasion of the event: Cologne location dialogue - Is tradition overtaking the future? (PDF) In: City of Cologne. March 17, 2005, accessed April 17, 2019 .
  11. ↑ The future of the Cologne rings. (PDF) City of Cologne - Office for Roads and Transport Technology, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  12. ^ Christian Deppe: Verkehrsversuch: It's going better than expected. In: Kölnische Rundschau. September 7, 2004, accessed April 28, 2019 .
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  14. ↑ Is tradition overtaking the future? Which (real estate) locations will prevail in Cologne? - PDF. (PDF) In: Location Dialogue Cologne. This year's Dialog, 2005, accessed on April 17, 2019 .
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  16. ↑ Cologne Rings. (PDF) City of Cologne, IG Ring e. V., 2007, accessed April 16, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Matthias Pesch: Tough struggle for the rings. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. March 7, 2008, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  18. ^ Sarah Wülfrath: Vision and Reality: The implementation of privately initiated urban planning visions using the example of the master plan for Cologne. (PDF) November 16, 2016, p. 123 , accessed May 18, 2019 .
  19. ^ Office for Roads and Transport Technology: Proposal for resolution: Program redesign of rings. 0372/2010. In: Council information system of the city of Cologne. April 20, 2010, accessed April 29, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Press release: From temporary to final solution. In: City of Cologne. September 9, 2011, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Urban development master plan for the city center, 7th city center forum. (PDF) In: The urban development master plan for downtown Cologne. Entrepreneur for the Cologne region V., City of Cologne, October 18, 2011, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Traffic report at Barbarossaplatz. (PDF) PTV Group, 2013, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Guideline Cologne Ring Roads. (PDF; 9; MB) In: City of Cologne. 2012, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  24. ^ Matthias Pesch: Rings "Boulevard for the 21st Century". In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger. October 11, 2011, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Christoph Schmidt: Demo: Stop killing cyclists! In: ADFC blog. ADFC Landesverband NRW, October 3, 2015, accessed on April 15, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Accident in downtown Cologne: woman cyclist rolled over by truck and seriously injured. In: Kölnische Rundschau. September 30, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Reinhold Goss: "Ring frei" - immediate lifting of the obligation to use the cycle path on the Cologne rings! In: openPetition. October 6, 2015, accessed April 14, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Anna Reimann: "Ring free" in Cologne: Petition wants to bring cyclists from the cycle path to the street. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. October 9, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Christoph Schmidt: 10-point plan for cycling on the Cologne rings. In: Adfc Blog. November 3, 2015, accessed April 14, 2019 .
  30. ↑ a b Urgency application: Road safety for cyclists: Abolition of the obligation to use cycle paths - implementation in Cologne. In: Council information system of the city of Cologne. Transport Committee, October 27, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Helmut Frangenberg: Cycle traffic in Cologne: Alliance wants to abolish the current cycle path on the rings. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, December 18, 2015, accessed on April 15, 2019 .
  32. ↑ Obligation to use cycle lanes ends: rings free for cyclists next year. In: Kölnische Rundschau. December 17, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 .
  33. ↑ a b The long way to the street. In: Stadtrevue. December 2015, accessed May 21, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Urgent motion: Ring free for more attractiveness on the rings: Implementation of a workshop for the Cologne rings. In: Council information system of the city of Cologne. District Representation City Center, April 21, 2016, accessed on April 17, 2019 .
  35. ↑ Template: Report on the bicycle traffic concept for the city center district. In: Council information system of the city of Cologne. Transport Committee, June 10, 2016, accessed April 17, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Tim Attenberger: Complaint to Reker Radverkehr on Kölner Ringen will not be on the road before 2017. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. May 24, 2016, accessed May 17, 2019 .
  37. ↑ Anna Reimann: Cycling initiatives outraged by new protective strips on the Hansaring. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. August 19, 2016, accessed May 18, 2019 .
  38. ↑ Simon Lorenz: Cycling in Cologne City changes traffic lights at Hansaring after much criticism. In: Kölnische Rundschau. August 16, 2016, accessed May 18, 2019 .
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