So if you go into Frankfurt's 'heart'....along the river (northside), there's this avenue...the Mainkal, which stretches at some point for 500 meters from the 'Old Bridge' over to the Untermainbruke (a more modern bridge).
It's a nice neighborhood....buildings with history and age. The street? An extra-wide two-lane. For decades, this has been a fairly well-used street by drivers.
So the residents came up and suggested to shut down this street entirely to cars.....allowing only bikes, walkers, and E-Scooters.
This started on 31 July, and would run for 13 months as a 'test'. Then a decision would be made about it being permanent.
The regional TV folks (HR) went and did a video to show people walking on the street. Chairs were laid out. It was quiet, and likely appreciated by the neighborhood folks.
So now, you might ask.....if the street is totally blocked off, where does the traffic now go? Well....they got diverted up to Munzgasse (a street about 150 meters north of this affected area). Yep, it's almost doubled now in traffic and causing all kinds of frustrated feelings for those who live on or near that avenue.
Complaints? Already rolling in.
Some folks have even gone to suggest the street on the opposite end of the river (the southern side) ought to be closed as well (this is by the big art museum). That would increase the number of frustrated folks even more.
You can stand back and admire how this was politically handled, and will end up motivating various neighborhoods to vote against certain parties, and for other parties.
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