Sauerland cycling ring
| Sauerland cycling ring | |
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| overall length | 124 km |
| Places along the way |
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| Flooring | asphalt |
| Height difference | 240 m to 460 m above sea level |
| Connection to |
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| Website URL | sauerlandradring.de |
The SauerlandRadring is a cycling route in the Sauerland and runs in the form of two circular routes that share a short section between Sallinghausen and Bremke. The Südschleife runs through Finnentrop , Eslohe , Bad Fredeburg , Schmallenberg and Lennestadt . The Nord- or Henneschleife runs through Meschede , Wennemen , Wenholthausen , Bremke and on the east bank of the Hennesees . It is essentially laid out on the routes of the former Finnentrop-Wennemen and Altenhundem-Wenholthausen railway lines and also follows the course of the Lenne and Hennesees rivers, so that the route has only slight gradients. The SauerlandRadring partly runs together with the Ruhr-Sieg-Radweg , the Lenneroute and the RuhrtalRadweg .
history
The railway cycle path between Lenhausen and Fehrenbracht was built in the 1990s. This section, designated as R 16, was 80 percent financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Between 2004 and 2006 the railway cycle path between Bremke and Schmallenberg was prepared. In 2007 the section between Fehrenbracht and Eslohe followed, which also includes the Kückelheim tunnel. With the completion of this measure, the official marketing as SauerlandRadring began on May 26, 2007. The designated circular route initially only included the 84-kilometer south loop via Eslohe, Finnentrop, Lennestadt and Schmallenberg. In spring 2009, the expansion of the railway line between Wennemen and Sallinghausen began. When this section was completed in 2012, the 40-kilometer circuit to Meschede, known as the Henne or Nordschleife, was opened. In 2018, a 1.2 kilometer long section was opened on the Henneseeschleife between Nichtinghausen and Hennesee-Vorbecken that runs along the B 55 in the valley. Before that, the cycle path ran from Nichtinghausen over a mountain and Erflinghausen to Hennesee.
Route
The bike path runs partly on former railway lines, which means that it is considered to be low-grade. In the course of the railway line, intervention was made in many places. Overpass structures were removed over roads. In such cases, the cycle path descends to street level and then back up onto the embankment. In addition, the cycle path was relocated in some places in the area of businesses to expand the location. Both circular routes use a 2.8 kilometer common section between junctions 44 and 45 between Sallinghausen and Bremke.
Nord- / Henneseeschleife
Starting from Meschede, the Nordschleife runs parallel on its own cycle path next to state road 743 (former federal road 7) until it branches off at junction 28 after Stockhausen and runs through Wennemen . The cycle path crosses the tracks behind the former train station and is then directed onto the embankment of the former Wennemen-Finnentrop railway line . The railway embankment is followed by the cycle path to Wenholthausen , with some interruptions at former road overpasses and at a wooden yard in mountains . Behind Wenholthausen, the route branches off to Finnentrop, which has not been upgraded as a cycle path in this area. For a short distance, the cycle path follows the Wenholthausen – Altenhundem railway line until the cycle path leaves the embankment at Sallinghausen and follows the B55 via Bremke , Reiste and Nichtinghausen to Hennesee. At Sallinghausen, the Südschleife connects at junction 44 in the direction of Finnentrop. The Südschleife to Schmallenberg connects at junction 45 in Bremke. At Mielinghausen the cycle path crosses the Hennesee over the Hennedamm. From here the cycle path follows a side path along the Hennesees to the Hennestaumauer. From here the cycle path descends into the center of Meschede.
Bat tunnel
The 689 meter long Kückelheim tunnel, also known as the bat tunnel, lies between the villages of Kückelheim and Fehrenbracht . The former railway tunnel, which was opened for cycling in 2007, is regularly closed to cycling for five months during the winter so that bats can hibernate in it undisturbed. It will be closed on November 1st and will open on April 9th at the latest. If necessary, however, the opening can also take place earlier if all animals have ended their hibernation earlier. During the closing times, a diversion route from Sieperting via Niedersalwey, Obersalwey and Schliprüthen to Fehrenbracht is recommended. This diversion route runs largely over the lane of the L 519 and the K 23. The fact that bats are overwintered is used to market the entire two circuits. The bat is a central element in the logo of the cycle path.
Accidents
In July 2014, a 66-year-old cyclist between Berge and Wenholthausen was killed by a fallen oak tree and died in hospital on the same day from severe head injuries. In the subsequent legal proceedings, the state road construction company was accused of not having complied with its traffic safety obligations in terms of vegetation maintenance. The police officers present stated after the investigation of the scene of the accident that the oak was rotten. A detailed examination of the fallen tree could not be carried out in the process, as employees of the state road construction company had already sawed the tree before an expert could examine it. Ultimately, the bereaved and the state road construction company agreed on a settlement in which the state of North Rhine-Westphalia pays the bereaved 70,000 euros for the dead. Two months after the incident, another tree fell on the cycle path, whereupon the cycle path between Berge and Wenholthausen was completely closed. The cycle path was closed for several months and was thinned through during this time. As a result, Straßen NRW intensified the vegetation control and blocked the cycle path in this section again and again in order to thwart the vegetation on the side. Cyclists then have to use the heavily trafficked road 541.
Expansion measures
Lenhauser tunnel
In the Lenhausen area, the plan is to lead the cycle path through the Lenhauser tunnel of the former Wennemen - Finnentrop railway line in order to be able to bypass Lenhausen on a shorter route and not to lead cyclists through road traffic. For this purpose, a driveway with a viewing platform was built between the Lenne and the Ruhr-Sieg route in 2014 . To complete the section, a bridge has to be built over the Ruhr-Sieg route and the B 236 and the tunnel has to be upgraded for bicycle traffic. However, the city of Finnentrop has leased the Lenhauser tunnel to a shooting club for 25 years until 2027, which uses the tunnel as a shooting range and has rebuilt it accordingly. The shooting club is not ready to prematurely terminate the lease if the city of Finnentrop does not provide an equivalent replacement. The dispute between the two parties went to the Hamm Higher Regional Court , and the shooting club got right in the matter. The community of Finnentrop then offered the Frettertal hunting and sport shooting club a piece of land in the Frielentrop industrial area on which the club can build a shooting range at its own expense. The association refused this because it was not financially able to support the construction of the property. Finnentrop's mayor Dietmar Hess then threatened the association with a plan approval procedure in order to obtain building rights for the tunnel and to get it out of the tunnel by means of a briefing.
Borghausen - Trockenbrück
The cycle path is to be continued along the B 236 between Borghausen and Trockenbrück in the Finnentrop - Lennestadt section. The necessary space for the new cycle path is to be created by a supporting wall towards the Lenne. So far, the cycle path along the road ends in Borghausen and cyclists have to take a narrow, unpaved field path in this area. A realization date for the measure is not foreseeable, as the intersection between B 236 and B 55 is to be redesigned in this area, including a bridge over the Lenne and a roundabout. Since the cycle path is influenced by the measure, it is not foreseeable whether the cycle path can be created beforehand.
Lenne - Störmecke
In the Lenne - Störmecke section between Lennestadt and Schmallenberg, the cycle path is to be relocated from its current route via the B 236 to a separate cycle path. In the past, the Landesbetrieb Straßen NRW tried unsuccessfully to acquire the land for this new cycle path. After the neighboring municipalities took over the negotiations, a solution for the purchase of land was found in the Lennestädter area. Negotiations are still ongoing in Schmallenberg.
getting there
Car
There are numerous parking spaces along the circular routes, some of which were created for the cycle ring and are also shown in the route plans. There the car can be parked and taken a lap.
train
Along the cycle path are the stations Meschede, Finnentrop, Lennestadt-Grevenbrück, Lennestadt-Meggen and Lennestadt-Altenhundem, which are regularly served by local transport lines. The RE 17 Hagen – Warburg (-Kassel) line stops in Meschede. The RE 57 line goes to Dortmund, Winterberg and Brilon Stadt. Trains on lines RE 16 and RB 91 run from Finnentrop and Lennestadt to Siegen, Hagen and Essen.
bus
The S90 buses between Schmallenberg and Meschede run on Sundays and public holidays with bicycle trailers from the end of April to the end of October. Between Bad Fredeburg and Meschede, however, they use a line route away from the Sauerland cycle ring.
Web links
- SauerlandRadring on www.schoene-radwege.de
- SauerlandRadring web address
- Map of the Sauerland cycling ring
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on the construction of the railway through the Fretter, Wenne and upper Lennetal and the later development of cycle paths. Sauerland-Radwelt e. V., accessed on August 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Achim Bartoschek: NW 4.25 SauerlandRadring: Finnentrop - Eslohe - Schmallenberg - Altenhundem. In: bahntrassenradeln.de. December 29, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2019 .
- ^ Westfalenpost, B 55 in Nichtinghausen will become a major construction site from summer, author: Jürgen Kortmann, June 8th 2017
- ↑ sauerlandradring.de, Rad-Information, winter bypass of the Kückelheim tunnel "Fledermaustunnel", accessed: July 14, 2019
- ↑ Cyclists killed by a tree - land should pay 70,000 euros, Westfalenpost, Oliver Eickhoff, June 22, 2018
- ^ Another tree crashes on Wenne cycle path, Westfalenpost, Oliver Eickhoff, September 13, 2014
- ↑ The bike path near Berge remains closed, Westfalenpost, Jürgen Kortmann, September 27, 2014
- ↑ Sauerland-Radring: Trouble about blocking and diversion, Westfalenpost, Oliver Eickhoff, July 20, 2018
- ↑ Lokalplus.de, Barbara Sander-Greatz, Unification in the Lenhauser Tunnelstreit ?, April 12, 2019
- ↑ No agreement: the shooting range still in the Lenhauser Tunnel, Westfalenpost, Flemming Krause, July 5, 2019
- ↑ SauerlandRadring should lose its last gaps, Westfalenpost, Volker Eberts, December 28, 2020
- ↑ SauerlandRadring should lose its last gaps, Westfalenpost, Volker Eberts, December 28, 2020
- ↑ Westfalenbus, With the S90 into nature, accessed: August 15, 2019