The city of Copenhagen serves as a model. “With a few clever interventions, a sustainable and bustling transit-, micro-economic- and social zone could soon be created where today, cars are parked.”

The idea was born in 2014 and, after further refinement, was made public one year later, finding many supporters on social media. “Of course there were doubts, concerns, and objections in the beginning, which is normal with these kinds of projects, but we listened and took up suggestions and objections and included them into our planning as the project proceeded,” says Simon Wöhr, co-initiator of the U1 cycle track.
“We looked at traffic planning, did surveying, looked for solutions that worked for difficult terrain and advanced the idea step by step.”

The cycle track project has been developed further by the paper planes e.V. association since 2016. In 2017, a study of potential was published, which provides answers to questions relating to traffic planning, intersections, car traffic, elevated railway stations and roofing.

The next steps are an official engineering feasibility study and the construction of a test track. The feasibility study first examines the cycle path section between Oberbaumbrücke and Kottbusser Tor. The test field, in turn, extends for a few hundert meters along Skalitzer Straße under the U1 line.
“The question should be answered as to which constructional variants enable the implementation of the cycle path. So at the same time, this means we’re beyond asking the question whether the project is implementable at all.” This is good news for Simon Wöhr and the Reallabor Radbahn-team, since a lot of passion and work have gone into it. Simon Wöhr explains the source of his own passion like this: “It's my genuine wish that everybody may be able to move around safely in the city on a bike. And it’s a sign of respect to create this kind of infrastructure for people. I would love for my daughter to be able to ride around on her bike safely when she is eight or nine years old.”

All planned seven sections of the track are visualized in detail on the project website. Only three percent of traffic areas in Berlin are designated for cyclists, whereas 60 percent are for cars, according to the “Agentur für clevere Städte” (Agency for for smart cities). Or if you compare Copenhagen to Berlin, for example, 46 percent of transport routes in the city were used by cyclists already ten years ago, whereas in Berlin, this figure was at only 13 percent. Meanwhile, this number has increased. However cars are still the number one means of transportation – even though Berlin, with its many green spaces, has always been a very attractive city for pedestrians.

“We want to demonstrate what it could actually look like. We want to test specific components of this infrastructure-to-be, and we want to organize events as well as ask local residents for their opinion.”

In order to turn this vision into a reality, many cooperation partners, many discussions, many calculations and many considerations are necessary. “The track is a great idea, but also difficult terrain at the same time. I’m positive that people will generally appreciate the good parts and benefits of the project. Especially as we address and talk about concerns and fears at every stage of development in an open manner. Some people are worried about gentrification, for example. We need to talk about these things and make the point that actually, the track is about the contrary of gentrification. The cycling track will be there for everyone to use, not only cyclists.”

“We were all the more pleased about the prize and the acknowledgement coming from a recognised federal institution. And of course, the award helped us – we were covered in the media and the public took notice. As we were looking for support, those aspects were, of course, essential to us.”

The U1 cycle track concept includes wide-ranging ideas on how the route could be used. It could create more green areas (saving CO2), it could improve the walking experience for pedestrians or it could be used by small businesses. It stands for less noise and a more attractive infrastructure. Again, things might still sound utopian at this point. But that also counts for the elevated train track at the time it only existed on paper. Simon Wöhr believes that the U1 cycle track has the potential to become another one of Berlin's landmarks. A landmark which focuses on people and the environment, and for those reasons, one that could prevail.

The results of the feasibility study and the potential analysis will finally be made accessible to Berliners in the summer of 2022 in a-few-hundert-meters long test field, i.e. a physical prototype of the study. In this "real laboratory", the future cycle track can be consciously explored and tested in a playful way. Different ground coverings, acoustic tunnels, signalling systems or break situations are just a few examples that can be experienced literally.
Finally, a very central goal of the project is to promote the interconnected feeling of community ownership by creating common city.