Invalidenstrasse is an approximately three-kilometer through street in Berlin that has grown organically along with the city and requires a relatively complex traffic management plan. After Berlin was reunified, Invalidenstrasse became one of the city's most important east-west corridors. In 2011 construction began on tram lines to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) and general road works were undertaken, including improvements to intersections. The competing needs of different road users presented great challenges for scheduling construction and managing traffic.
Client: City of Berlin
Time frame: 2011- 2015
Project type: Managing traffic during construction
In traffic, somebody always has to wait, and during construction that number multiplies. Circumstances often do not allow competing needs to be satisfied.
In June 2011, work began on extending tram lines from Nordbahnhof to the main train station) At the same time, the same section of road was expanded to four lanes for vehicular traffic, and separate sidewalks and bike lanes were created on both sides of the street for pedestrians and cyclists. When completed, this work will integrate the street into the northern inner-city ring road, allowing traffic to move completely around the ring.
At different stages of the four-year construction project, we fully coordinated more than 20 intersections. The special challenge of this project for us as planners was – and is – adequately meeting the competing needs of different road users and creating the best possible plans: giving priority to trams, while at the same time implementing better-quality coordination of vehicular traffic and of course, creating safe bike traffic management.
To address the environmental aspects of the project, we worked together with the traffic information center VIZ) to develop an environmentally sensitive traffic management plan. Special plans to reduce traffic volumes in certain heavily trafficked areas will be implemented automatically in response to prevailing air pollution levels and traffic volumes. In addition, our traffic-actuated signal control ensures that any traffic that is diverted as a result will flow smoothly.