Cycle path planning on B97 near Hoyerswerda on hold - ADFC: Embarrassing

The ADFC cycling club has criticized the plans for cycle paths along federal road 97 between Hoyerswerda and the state border with Brandenburg. "The Free State of Saxony must no longer leave cyclists in Lusatia in the lurch," said Saxon ADFC chairman Janek Mücksch in a statement. The cycle path has been promised for 20 years.

ADFC: already good cycle paths on the Brandenburg side

The ADFC assumes that many more cycle path plans will be abandoned due to the planned budget cuts. The situation on the B97 is particularly drastic, as there are already good conditions for cyclists on the Brandenburg side. "It is embarrassing that Brandenburg has been demonstrating how modern cycling policy works for years, while Saxony is gradually signing off completely on this issue," said Mücksch.

According to the Saxon Ministry of Infrastructure, the plans have been put on hold due to the restricted area that the federally-owned Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbauverwaltungsgesellschaft (LMBV) designated in the former mining area in Lusatia following the landslide in Nachterstedt (Saxony-Anhalt). In July 2009, around 2.8 million cubic meters of soil, including houses, fell into the Concordia open-cast mining lake in the accident, which claimed three lives.

Remediation will take up to ten years

According to the ministry, extensive soil consolidation is required under the B97 in the area where it connects to the S130. Only then can the road be rebuilt and a cycle path added. The work is scheduled to begin in 2030 and will take five to ten years, according to the LMBV. The cycle path planning is only to be continued after this, as the risk of planning errors is said to be too high before then.

According to the information provided, neither the federal government nor the state would be responsible for an alternative independent of the federal road. The ministry refers to the municipal level, where local traffic needs can be best assessed. A corresponding system could receive 85 percent funding from the Free State. An alternative route proposed by the ADFC is also located in the restricted area, which means that the same underground problems exist as along the B97.