Berlin – Nobody knows how long it will last. The Mühlendamm Bridge in Mitte, one of the busiest crossings of the Spree in Berlin, has been ailing for years. The Senate wants to build a new building on the site of the prestressed concrete structure from 1968. However, in the opinion of citizens, politicians and associations, the planned new bridge offers too much space for cars. With the planned “concrete board” the chance to make this part of the center more compatible with the city and to relieve traffic, they say. Now the dispute could land on the legal level – and later maybe even in court. “We are having a look at what path we can take against the illegal actions of the Senate,” said Benedikt Goebel, founder and spokesman of the planning group for the city center in the Berlin Citizens’ Forum, the Berliner Zeitung.
The pivotal point is the question of whether a plan approval procedure is required in which those affected must be heard, public concerns examined and the consequences for the environment determined. The Senate says no, the citizens say yes. “It is not about a replacement building,” says historian Goebel. The new Mühlendamm bridge, which is to be opened to traffic along the Leipziger / Grunerstraße main road in 2028, is designed and dimensioned differently than the old one.
Capacity is to be reduced by 10,000 vehicles per day
What the Senate is planning for this part of Bundesstrasse 1 is to be regarded as a “considerable structural redesign”, confirms a Potsdam law firm commissioned by citizens. It is not just a matter of structural changes, the structure will not be rebuilt one-to-one. The width of the new bridge should be 87 percent of the old one. Not only would the lanes be rearranged, but the tram line that will connect Alexanderplatz with Potsdamer Platz and the Kulturforum from 2028 will run in the middle. The previous parking spaces in the central area are to be dispensed with.
Simulation: Arup / COBE, Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection
A flight of stairs to sit on: The new Mühlendamm bridge in Mitte is to be designed to be pedestrian-friendly.
Last but not least, the project is about questions of principle, according to the lawyers. According to the Senate, it is a “future-oriented and exemplary solution” as a result of a transport policy that seeks to promote environmentally friendly modes of transport.
Indeed, Transport Senator Regine Günther (Greens) emphasizes that a “bridge suitable for traffic turns” is the goal. So far, an average of around 72,800 cars and over 2,500 trucks have been driving over the Spree on Mühlendamm on working days, but after the renovation of the neighboring whey market, it should be around ten thousand fewer vehicles per day. For them there will initially be two lanes in each direction, as well as a combined lane for buses and bicycles. There are also sidewalks with a minimum width of four meters.
Berliner Zeitung / Benjamin Pritzkuleit
Spree crossing against the backdrop of the Nikolaiviertel and the television tower: the Mühlendamm Bridge in January 2021, 116 meters wide and 45.20 meters long. The Elsenbrücke, built using the same construction method, will be torn down after a crack has appeared.
“In the first phase of the project, a new replacement building is to be implemented while maintaining the existing planning and building rights,” affirmed administrative spokeswoman Constanze Siedenburg. “In a later, second project phase, if the mobility transition continues to be implemented, the bridge will be redesigned in such a way that further redistribution of traffic areas is possible.”
The second phase should begin when the tram line from Spittelmarkt to Hallescher Tor in Kreuzberg is ready. Then the bus traffic can be stopped. Cars will only need one lane in each direction, and cyclists will no longer have to share the space with buses.
But with a planned capacity of just under 63,000 vehicles per day, the project itself falls short of the requirements from 2011, counter the critics, including the German Association for Environmental and Nature Conservation and the Association of Architects and Engineers. You speak of a “highly questionable transport project” in which the citizens have not been allowed to have a say so far. The design by the Copenhagen planning office Arup and COBE, which was awarded a prize in June, provides for an “elegantly designed engineering structure”, but one that buries a sensitive part of Berlin’s center under itself, according to the former Senate Building Director Hans Stimmann. In order for the oldest part of Berlin to become a place for people again, the capacity has to be limited to 35,000 vehicles a day, calls for Mittes City Councilor Ephraim Gothe (SPD).
A few flower pots and seats do not turn the motorway bridge into a city-friendly structure, says Goebel. It is also clear to him that a plan approval procedure would delay the project – according to experts, such procedures take an average of two years. “But we assume that the bridge will last a long time.”
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