Politics
Charlottenburg Approves €3.8M Bike Plan, Cuts Two Bus Routes
Central Charlottenburg residents gain dedicated cycling routes from the €3.8 million allocation while commuters in the western edges lose planned bus service upgrades scheduled for 2027.
How we reported this
The Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district assembly approved the 2026 Mobility and Transport Plan on July 7 with a 28-19 vote, directing €3.8 million to new protected bike lanes along Kantstrasse and Schlossstrasse while rejecting €1.9 million in proposed extensions for bus lines 109 and M49.
The vote followed the district's receipt of updated population forecasts from the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development showing a 4.2 percent rise in residents aged 25 to 45 in the central neighbourhoods since 2023, prompting the assembly to prioritise cycling infrastructure in those zones.
Effects on Residents' Daily Travel
Residents living between Ernst-Reuter-Platz and Savignyplatz will gain 2.4 kilometres of separated bike lanes scheduled for completion by December 2027, shortening some work commutes by an estimated eight minutes according to the district's transport modelling. Households near the western boundary with Spandau will continue using existing bus services without the additional stops originally planned near Heerstrasse and the Charlottenburg Palace grounds.
The approved document states that the bike-lane projects will remove 47 on-street parking spaces along the two corridors, a change that local shop owners have flagged in public submissions as likely to affect delivery access during morning hours.
Budget papers released with the plan show the €3.8 million figure covers construction, signage and traffic-signal adjustments, drawn from the district's share of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe capital programme for the coming fiscal year.
Next Steps for Implementation
District officials will forward the approved plan to the Berlin Senate by July 31 for inclusion in the city-wide transport budget, after which detailed engineering designs for the Kantstrasse segment are expected to begin in September. The two rejected bus extensions remain listed as unfunded proposals that could be reconsidered during the 2027 budget cycle if additional Senate funds become available.