German motorcyclists join forces against road closures

The newly founded German motorcyclists’ Action Alliance rejects road closures for powered two-wheelers only in the popular region of Hochtaunus.

In January 2022, ten motorcyclist organisations from the German Rhine-Main region founded the ‘Hochtaunus action alliance for everybody’. The occasion was the announcement to close three access roads to the Großer Feldberg in the Taunus at the end of every second week of the month for powered two-wheelers in the period from April through October.

Two of the organisations that form the Action Alliance are members of FEMA: Biker Union and BVDM.

The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is Großer Feldberg at 878 meters.

In November 2021, the First District Alderman of the Hochtaunuskreis, Thorsten Schorr, announced that from 2022 so-called ‘noise breaks’ would be set up for residents on these roads. In mid-January 2022, the associations were then sent the ‘Draft of the order of experimental transit bans for motorcycle traffic in the Feldberg area’ for comment. In contrast to the announced permanent closures, the closures are initially to be implemented as a pilot project.

The organisations in the Action Alliance are united in the rejection of road closures for powered two-wheelers only. The Action Alliance will work to ensure that the Hochtaunus continues to be available as a leisure and recreation region to all groups, hikers, cyclists as well as motorcyclists and car drivers.

As a first concrete measure, a joint statement refusing the order by the Hochtaunuskreis was prepared. From the point of view of the Action Alliance, sustainable and balanced measures must be developed and implemented against environmental pollution, unnecessary noise emissions and accidents. The Action Alliance will actively participate in this with the involvement of the citizens concerned.

According to the Action Alliance the planned route closures do not solve the existing problems in the Feldberg area, but only shift them to other roads. In addition, the planned closures – also in the form of a pilot project – lack any legal basis.

Source: BVDM & Biker Union

Top photograph courtesy of motorradstrassen.de