Traffic - Fraction of NRW funds spent on cycle highways
From the means that North Rhine-Westphalia has made available for cycling infrastructure in recent years, only a manageable part has actually been allocated. The WDR reported on this on Thursday. The millions of euros that were available were not used.
According to information from the North Rhine-Westphalia Transport Ministry, a total of 86.75 million Euros were made available from 2017 to 2023. Of these, approximately 13.3 million Euros have been spent on cycling infrastructure in this period, including planning costs.
"The progress made in building cycling infrastructure, which goes back to 2013, is not satisfactory," explained a spokesperson for the ministry. Planning and implementation processes have been "complicated and slow" up to now, but the state government is "ambitiously" addressing this since the government change. With several initiatives launched, the pace of implementing cycling infrastructure is intended to be "significantly" increased.
"Independent of specific cycling infrastructure projects, we are continuing to build and expand cycling lanes at a high pace in terms of infrastructure as a whole," added the spokesperson. The state government is therefore making over 38 million Euros available in this year alone for the construction and maintenance of cycling lanes on state roads.
Communication from the North Rhine-Westphalia Transport Ministry on the cycling program
- The WDR highlighted that a significant fraction of the funds allocated by North Rhine-Westphalia's Ministry of Transport for cycling infrastructure over the years, amounting to 86.75 million Euros from 2017 to 2023, has yet to be utilized for actual cycling projects.
- To combat the slow progress of cycling infrastructure construction, which dates back to 2013, the current government has launched several initiatives aimed at substantially increasing the speed of implementation.
- Cycle highways are part of the infrastructure projects that will receive additional funding, as the state government has allocated over 38 million Euros for the construction and maintenance of cycling lanes on state roads in this very year.
- If you're planning a cycle trip in Düsseldorf or any other city in North Rhine-Westphalia, you may find the journey more comfortable with the new wheel lanes and cycle highways, which should be more prevalent on the state's roads due to these recent investments.
