Grabenring - Templergraben section

Location

The Templergraben is part of the 3.0 km long (inner) ring of moats that surrounds Aachen's old town. The Templergraben is 550 m long between Pontstraße and Königstraße.

Background

The entire inner city mobility in Aachen is undergoing a process of change. More space is to be created - embedded in the "inner city tomorrow" - for environmentally friendly means of transportation, for urban greenery and the quality of stay. In short, the quality of life is to be improved: The overall project is called "Inner-city mobility for tomorrow"(link).

A central task here is to make a "cycle distribution ring" so attractive that fast and continuous cycle traffic bypasses the old town on the Grabenring. It is the centerpiece of the "priority cycle routes" concept.

The concept makes it necessary for there to be less car traffic on the Grabenring. Through car traffic is to be diverted away from the Grabenring with the "new car traffic management" concept adopted in Dec. 2023, without restricting the accessibility of the city center. The basis for this is the so-called "main road network for motor vehicle traffic", which was adopted in 2017. This includes routing motor vehicle traffic around the city center on the ring road. The roads within the ring of avenues only have a so-called "access function" for car traffic.

Measures

Changed traffic routing Car traffic

• In June 2021, the "Templergraben real laboratory" was launched in a trial phase. Its task has been presented in a video.
• Reallabor Templergraben
• The results of the investigations showed that the changed routing of car traffic can be made compatible and that the urban planning goal of less separation of the university areas in the center could be achieved. The political committees therefore decided in 2023 that the Templergraben in front of the Super C should remain permanently closed to car traffic. Templergraben was subsequently "rededicated" under traffic law in August 2024 in the section between Wüllnerstraße and Schinkelstraße. This means that the road no longer has a function for motor vehicle traffic.
• The project was investigated by the Department of Gender and Diversity in Engineering at RWTH Aachen University using a household survey, among other things .

Establishment of a bicycle lane

• In summer 2024, a cycle lane was installed in the sections between Driescher Gäßchen and Wüllnerstraße and between Schinkelstraße and Königstraße. As the section between Schinkelstraße and Königstraße is due to undergo a pipeline measure by Regionetz, the red coloring was postponed here.

Council proposals

Further topics