Pedestrian Zone

Potential Pedestrian Zone

improving quality of life in one of bonn's oldest neighbourhoods

Kessenich is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the former German capital city Bonn. Kessenich's Puetzstrasse between Burbacher Strasse and Hausdorffstrasse is right in the the heart of the district. All relevant shops for daily shopping (bakeries, supermarket, household goods, hairdressers, banks, laundry, etc.) can be found there. The potential section for a pedestrian area covers about 100 meters of the Puetzstrasse.  In terms of urban planning and especially in terms of the quality of life, a pedestrian zone would be a great gain for the entire neighbourhood. In my opinion not only residents but also local retailers would benefit from it.

 
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RETAILERS WOULD BENEFIT FROM INCREASE IN AVERAGE STAY

There are nine parking spaces and one handicapped parking – opposite the supermarket entrance. Since there are many retailers in every single one the narrow buildings in the main part of the street (yellow area) – it can be assumed that there are definitely not enough parking possibilities to serve all of the customers arriving by car. Instead, it would be an increase not only in livelihood of the area when parking would be prohibited, moreover retailers would benefit and boost their sales from the increase in average stay of the people strolling down the narrow street in a slower manner.
Today, one has to be very careful not to be run over by speeding cars trying to catch the green traffic light. And trucks delivering goods often times cause severe traffic jams with the cars whose owners "just stop to jump in the bakery and grab a baguette". Instead, a well-planned pedestrian area would make it possible for the retailers to put serve coffee and food on small tables outside, benches under the old trees would provide shade in the summer sun while enjoying a cup of ice cream and overall the residents of Kessenich could enjoy a relaxed shopping stroll– still with their car parked nearby.

These ideas that are currently evaluated by the city of Bonn which is developing a concept for this part of town and now seriously considering a pedestrian zone, were also supported from several local residents in one of my first researches on this topic.