The city council group the Free Voters and the voter group “FÜR Karlsruhe” have submitted a supplementary application for the redesign of the northern Karlstraße to the Karlsruhe City Council. In this motion, they call on the city administration to draw up a framework plan for motorized individual traffic (MIV) in the city center, in which traffic calming measures, as well as further redesigns of the streets and transport services, and the car-free city center are included in an overall concept.
The city council group also advocates a handicapped-accessible stop with good transfer connections at Europaplatz. In an amendment to the administrative proposal of the car-free Karlstraße, they propose to keep the stop Europaplatz and to close the stop in Karlstraße. The administration proposed to close the stop on Europaplatz and to expand the stop on Karlstraße.
The stop at Europaplatz already has facilities for the disabled and a direct connection to the U-Strab. Elevators are also available. The above-ground tracks on Europaplatz will remain in place even if the stop is relocated, so it will not be possible to use the square for any other purpose.
The closure of the Karlstrasse stop is proposed because it no longer fulfills its previous function as an interchange station due to the changed route network of the Kombilösung. These changes can save the cost of relocating the stop with a direct connection to the U-Strab and the existing infrastructure. “Moving it to Karlstrasse would not make sense,” the group says.
The city council group emphasizes that a downtown calmed from motorized traffic is a wish of many pedestrians. In the future, however, the delivery traffic and the access of the practices on site must also be taken into account. The measures should be incorporated into an overall concept for Karlsruhe’s city center in order to offer perspectives and routes for all forms of mobility.
Group Chairman Friedemann Kalmbach emphasizes: “We want a sustainable, accessible city center that is attractive for all road users. This includes sensible planning for individual motorized traffic.”
The city council group the Free Voters and the voter group “FÜR Karlsruhe” is committed to sustainable and future-oriented urban development and sees this supplementary motion as an important step in this direction.
