published16. May 2022, 19:49
The city of Lucerne has big plans for its train station: the originally planned bicycle ramp on Habsburgerstrasse should no longer exist. But a bicycle tunnel, two new train station spaces – without a parking garage. The SVP is already threatening to resist.
There is to be a bicycle ramp on Waldstätterstrasse that is 6.50 meters wide and around 50 meters long, as well as a pedestrian exit with stairs.
Screenshot of the feasibility study for the extension of the south pedestrian underpass
The resulting tunnel is intended to connect Neustadt with the bicycle station and the east side of the train station.
Screenshot of the feasibility study for the extension of the south pedestrian underpass
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The city council has presented its plans for how the various projects around the station and the upcoming construction of the through station should look and be approached.
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The bike ramp, for which the city council received a construction loan from voters in 2019, is rejected once more. Instead, there should be a new bike tunnel.
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The station square will be heavily restructured and two more squares will be added. Pedestrians should be given more safety and freedom of movement, but buses and cars will have a hard time on the site in the future.
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A circumstance that causes trouble, especially for the SVP: “The fact that the city council does not want to provide a replacement for the P1, which has to disappear, is not possible at all. You have to be able to guarantee a safe replacement, »says Dieter Haller, President of the SVP Lucerne.
A bike ramp should have connected the bike tunnel (the former post tunnel) at the train station and the east side behind it with the new town. Around 200 bicycle parking spaces have been available in the Velotunnel since 2019. However, nothing will come of the ramp. As the city announced on Monday, it had become apparent that the planned bicycle ramp on Habsburgerstrasse might not be used sensibly either to open up the through station (DBL) or to connect neighborhoods and bicycles. “A passage for bicycles would lead right through the distribution level of the DBL,” says construction director Manuela Jost.
Instead, the city council now has something much bigger in mind: There should be a new tunnel that runs under the station. According to the plans, starting from Waldstätterstrasse, it crosses under the central road at a depth of five meters with two lanes. One for pedestrians and one for bikes. The tunnel is to be connected to the through station, which means that the SBB can also participate in the project, according to the city. And that’s how it should be according to the feasibility study appearance:
According to the plan, the passage for cars and cyclists on the Waldstätterstrasse should be closed. There are only pedestrians.
Screenshot of the feasibility study for the extension of the south pedestrian underpass
East access: At the vocational training center (BBZL) there should be a bicycle ramp 6.50 meters wide and approx. 50 meters long, plus a pedestrian exit with stairs.
Screenshot of the feasibility study for the extension of the south pedestrian underpass
The cost of the project should amount to around 44.4 million Swiss francs. That is almost twice as much as the originally planned bicycle ramp on Habsburgerstrasse would have cost (24.9 million Swiss francs). “According to the preliminary project for the bicycle tunnel, the bicycle ramp on Habsburgerstrasse only makes limited sense,” says construction director Jost. “After its construction, it will only be in operation as an actual bicycle access road for a few years, namely until 2030, when construction of the DBL begins.” After the opening of the DBL, it might no longer be used for bicycles. Jost: “Therefore, the project Velotunnel Bahnhof can be dispensed with”.
Two new station squares in the east and west
Another hot potato is hidden in the City Council Report and Proposal Regarding the parking spaces at the station: The space around the station should be organized as a “multimodal hub”, it says, so that “the areas around the station can be used optimally and efficiently”. Bus, bicycle and pedestrian traffic should be given the necessary space for attractive mobility. Two new station spaces are to be built to the east and west of the station.
“They make it possible to relieve the current Bahnhofplatz Nord and to rethink the bus system,” says the city council. The current Bahnhofplatz “takes on a representative function for the city of Lucerne in the sense of a business card”. Arriving should find attractive and safe movement and lounge areas on the north station square. However, this also means that car and bus traffic via the north station square compared to today must be reduced.
The construction of the through station cut through the P1 multi-storey car park with its 377 parking spaces, which is now located under Bahnhofplatz Nord and will no longer be available at this location even following the construction of the DBL.
Screenshot of the Lucerne train station parking study
In addition, with the construction of the DBL, the P1 multi-storey car park with its 377 parking spaces will be eliminated. However, car parks P2 and P3 with a total of 523 parking spaces will continue to be available. The city council does not want to replace the missing parking spaces in the vicinity of the station.
“We will do everything we can to compensate for the reduction in parking spaces”
A circumstance that causes trouble, especially for the SVP: “The fact that the city council does not want to provide a replacement for the P1, which has to disappear, is not possible at all. You have to be able to guarantee a safe replacement, »says Dieter Haller, President of the SVP Lucerne. “We will do everything we can to compensate for the reduction in parking spaces,” says Haller, and threatens the city council: “Otherwise we will prevent the project.”
The big problem is that the city council is driven by its ideologies and plans accordingly, says Haller. “They plan purely for one type of transport. Namely the cyclist. That doesn’t bother me, I’m a cyclist too, but there must be a way for everyone to get to the station. They also expect three new train station spaces, which I don’t think is necessary.”
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