Even after renovation, the former motorway bridge at Breitenbachplatz will only be able to bear a load for a few more years. The same applies to the building from the 1970s as to many other prestressed concrete structures from this era: their time is over – and with them the transport policy concepts behind these often monstrous buildings.
In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about a city that is car-friendly and people-friendly when it comes to Berlin’s transport policy. Breitenbachplatz symbolizes this debate. In the belief in new lifestyles, the urban space was completely reshaped by masses of concrete and has dominated this place for decades. A fall from grace of the 20th century.
If a departure from this former idea is initiated there in Steglitz, this can serve as a city-wide example of how Berlin can become more livable on a small and large scale through a different transport and spatial policy.
There are no easy answers in this debate
At the same time, those questions arise there that arise wherever car traffic loses space. With a generous infrastructure, the red carpet was once rolled out for the automobile in West Berlin. It is now necessary to investigate where the traffic will be shifted to if, for example, the tunnel under the residential complex on Schlangenbader Strasse is also closed. Many motorists are only allowed to change the route – at the expense of other city dwellers. There are therefore no easy answers in this debate.
Ultimately, the questions about changing traffic flows are similar to those that arise in the discussion about extending the A100 in the east of the city. Wouldn’t it make more sense to channel traffic along a motorway route?
The example of Breitenbachplatz provides a few major counter-arguments. If there is infrastructure, it will also be used by traffic – and will only generate additional journeys. Where such a route is created, the public space loses massively in quality. And ultimately it is incredibly difficult to demolish such traffic structures once they are in place, even if most people no longer want them. The Breitenbachplatz should also serve as a reminder for the A100 extension.
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