Herforder Straße - Planning of Traffic Facilities and Civil Engineering Structures (North Section)

The City of Bielefeld plans to redesign Herforder Straße between Zimmerstraße and the city limits (entire project). The first section of the OWL 2.0 rapid cycle path is to be realized here, creating an important connection from Rheda-Wiedenbrück via Gütersloh and Bielefeld to Herford, seamlessly connecting to the RS 3 rapid cycle path, which leads further to Minden. The services for the planning of traffic facilities in the northern section (Talbrückenstraße to city limits, with the Talbrückenstraße intersection included in the planning area) are being tendered here. Herforder Straße has special significance in the cycling traffic concepts of the City of Bielefeld and the region. It represents a main route of Category 1 in the municipal cycling traffic concept and is part of the development corridor "Route Herford". It is also classified with network category 1 in the cycling traffic concepts of the Regiopolregion Bielefeld and the OWL region. The feasibility study for the OWL 2.0 rapid cycle path has shown that Herforder Straße is part of the preferred route. Furthermore, Herforder Straße is of great importance for car traffic. It is a continuous part of the federal highway B 61. It connects the upper center of Bielefeld with the middle center of Herford. With the ongoing construction of the L 712n as an extension of the Ostwestfalenstraße, Herforder Straße will be more directly connected to the A 2 motorway junction. This connection is expected to increase car traffic volume. For the section between Grafenheider Straße and Rabenhof (located within the northern section), the city, in cooperation with Straßen.NRW, has developed a plan for a four-lane expansion of the road. This was intended to address the anticipated bottleneck after the construction of the L 712n. This plan also included the installation of a noise protection system. The planning of the traffic facility is no longer being pursued by the City of Bielefeld, as it contradicts the goals of the mobility strategy and, among other things, does not take into account the considerations for a rapid cycle path along Herforder Straße. A traffic model-based study is currently underway to show how car traffic volume on Herforder Straße can be influenced so that a four-lane expansion of Herforder Straße can be avoided if possible. This study will be completed at the beginning of the project and will influence which planning variants should be investigated in the preliminary planning. A detailed further description can be found in the document "Information on the Subject of the Service".