Add Berlin to the growing list of cities planning to keep cars out of their critical core areas to encourage pedestrians, cyclists and especially shoppers to fill the spaces used by emission-creating vehicles.
The six-month experiment, which will close part of Friedrichstrasse, a major shopping and business artery in the Mitte district to vehicles. Some exceptions may be made for taxis or buses. Berlin’s governing Senate streesed that the aim includes strengthening trade and retail by increasing ‘footfall.’
The idea has been tried on a more limited basis before, with traffic closings during the Christmas season in 2018. There have also been short-term experiments in other parts of the city. One other likely change: a few blocks from the test area, traffic around the Cold War “Checkpoint Charlie” will be stopped for safety reasons; in its tight space there are 26,000 daily pedestrian crossings.
