Appraisal procedure

The wide station road hinders pedestrians. It is not apparent from the drafts of the associated expert procedure that this will change. What suggestions are there?

The conceptual approach for Bahnhofstrasse is a boulevard-like design. The winning design also follows this idea. Wide, greened side spaces with double rows of trees are intended to give the currently 60 metre wide street an urban proportion. Additional crossings are difficult to realise, however, as Bahnhofstrasse will remain an important, busy road. Similar streets in other cities show that even a main thoroughfare can attract pedestrians. The "Champs-Élysées" in Paris is one such example.
Due to the successive junctions of Zschopauer Straße and Brücken-/ Augustusburger Straße, turning lanes and lay-bys are essential to prevent the traffic flow on Bahnhofstraße from coming to a standstill.

The Bahnhofstraße/Zschopauer Straße junction will be made more compact to allow future residents and users of Johannisplatz to enter and exit the area. Traffic lights need to be adapted to allow traffic to flow and still allow pedestrians to cross quickly.

The winning design envisages an additional building on the site adjacent to the Archaeological Museum, which would better define Johannisplatz. Critics believe that the design would not integrate the former Landeszentralbank building into a perimeter block and that the view would be drawn to the building's exposed gable. What led to this design approach?

The design is based on the - urbanistically understandable - idea of creating a visually effective end point for Zschopauer Strasse with this building on Johannisplatz and giving Johannisplatz a conclusion.

The city had also pursued similar considerations in its 2000 and 2005 city centre master plans with the slightly offset building site compared to the winning design. The modified layout compared to the legally binding development plan is intended to allow for a quicker route from Augustusburger Straße/ Brückenstraße to Johannisplatz. The alignment with the gable of the former Landeszentralbank building was deliberately chosen by the planners in order to narrow the entrance to the square. It is assumed that the façade/gable of the building can be further developed in terms of design. The design of a construction site at this location and the timing of its realisation will have to be worked on in more detail.

The consequence of erecting this building would be to dispense with the high-tech playground located there. What is the city's position on this?

It must first be decided whether the city will adhere to the existing development plans for Johannisplatz, in particular the layout of the construction site next to the Archaeological Museum. This fundamental decision should be made soon in order to obtain clarity for its commercialisation. When updating the framework plan for the city centre, it should be examined whether the neighbouring area - with the loss of the playground on Johannisplatz - should also be part of the planning. The urban planning idea from the expert opinion process can thus be taken up in a modified form.

This construction site could only be realised once the commitment period for the funding used to build the playground has expired. It should also be borne in mind that playground equipment is subject to relatively high wear and tear, meaning that a decision on refurbishment will have to be made in due course anyway. The advantages and disadvantages of further development at Johannisplatz must be carefully weighed up.

The winning design no longer envisages any development between the central bus stop and the building of the former Dresdner Bank and later Sparkasse on Johannisplatz. How is the winning design to be understood here?

It is known that the owner of the building favours the construction of another one. The amendment to the development plan for the so-called "Posthof" Part A adopted by the city council in 2012 does not specify a building site at this location. The winning design favoured trees as a design element over building development in this area.

In addition to the Free State building (the so-called "Party Fold"), Brückenstraße in particular represents a blockage to the city centre and to the further development of the Straße der Nationen. How should this be broken up?

In order to emphasise the desired urban development direction, the Park Am Roten Turm is to be opened up visually towards the north in the direction of the Karl Marx Monument. The Brückenstraße will be redesigned with wide "step lines" to make it easy to cross, despite the continued presence of traffic. The height differences to the SIB building will be overcome by flat ramps and sloping squares. Trees are intended to create a distinctive, unifying park character.

Architect Axel Lohrer comments: "The blockade of Brückenstraße is to be broken up with a so-called strip model. The road will be divided crosswise into carriageways and areas where pedestrians can take a breather. This can be separated very well visually, for example by paving the pedestrian areas and asphalting the carriageways. The effect of this is that pedestrians can cross the road in stages, so the road no longer appears so wide and so blocking. We have only planned one lane in each direction - instead of the two that were previously there. We mustn't sacrifice everything to the car, we have to develop the city centre more from the perspective of the pedestrian. And for pedestrians, Brückenstrasse is now a barrier, which has extremely negative consequences for the development of the Street of Nations."

Residents expressed concern about the volume of traffic, especially as the city centre ring road will not be completed in the foreseeable future.

The traffic connecting function of Brückenstraße must be retained; this was an important requirement for the expert opinion process. Traffic functions should not be shifted to other parts of the city centre ring road so as not to place additional strain on sections such as Theaterstraße and not to call their redesign into question. On the other hand, there is also no need to have completed the inner ring road as a prerequisite for the remodelling of Brückenstraße.

A two-lane cross-section with widening / turning lanes in front of the junctions is included in the design and is sufficient for coping with the existing traffic load of currently around 1,800 vehicles in the peak hour.

The aim is to integrate the city centre ring road into the urban fabric and thus minimise its barrier effect. With the two-lane cross-section, a linear crossing will be possible (as on the Straße der Nationen from Brückenstraße to Theaterplatz), unlike on Bahnhofstraße, where crossing will continue to be possible only at the signalised junctions.