Traffic chaos in Gera: bottleneck in Frankenthal is finally being cleared!

Traffic chaos in Gera: bottleneck in Frankenthal is finally being cleared!

From today, September 25, 2025, the bottleneck in Frankenthal, a district of Gera, will be cleared again. This comes as part of a traffic trial that did not produce the expected results after a short testing period starting on September 4th. The aim of the measure was to slow down the traffic situation and increase traffic safety. Unfortunately, this plan could not be implemented as desired. The bottleneck between Frankenthaler Straße 95 and 99 was specifically intended for this purpose, but it was not successful.

During the test, the lane was narrowed as a test to give priority to traffic coming from the direction of Gera. Vehicles from the direction of Töppeln, however, had to give priority. The city administration accompanied the experiment, observed traffic events and evaluated the results. There was also an open ear for feedback and citizens were able to address their concerns Transportation Authority direct.

The next steps

In the future, the city administration, in collaboration with the district council, will discuss further measures to improve traffic safety. The traffic test will be stopped for the time being, but can be reactivated again at short notice if necessary if there are undesirable effects or if accidents occur. Positive feedback could form the basis for permanent narrowing.

The issue of road safety has now also become more important at the national level. According to a study that deals with “experimental spaces” within the meaning of Section 45 of the StVO, the focus is on improving safety for weaker road users. In 2023, there were over 112,000 accidents with personal injuries in Germany, with more than half of those affected being pedestrians and cyclists. These statistics illustrate the urgent need for action on the streets, which the city of Gera also wanted to address with its traffic tests. The study was carried out in cooperation with the German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu) carried out and shows that traffic tests often do not bring about the desired improvements.

The popularity of such traffic tests has increased, especially since the amendment to traffic law in April 2020. While many measures have been successfully implemented on a permanent basis, increasing traffic safety often remains a secondary goal. In the past, the UDV has decided against further projects because traffic safety is not always a priority and a lot of data on traffic is missing.

In Gera, it remains to be seen what next steps will be taken to improve traffic safety in Frankenthal. The chances are good that the city administration has a good hand and will soon start a new attempt to make flowing traffic safer.