Following a fatal road accident: Ökolöwe e.V. calls for safe cycle paths on Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.

Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße has for years been one of those road projects that the city keeps postponing. For years, signs have been warning of road damage, particularly in the area around the tram tracks. Apart from a tiny stretch in the north, there are no designated cycle lanes. None of this necessarily has anything to do with the tragic accidental death of a young cyclist on Wednesday, 21 October. But for the Leipzig-based Ökolöwen, this accident highlights once again that cycle lanes are still missing along the entire length of the road.

“It is with great dismay that Ökolöwe e.V. has learnt of the death of a 20-year-old cyclist following a road traffic accident on Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße. Our sympathies go out to her family, her friends and all her loved ones,” emphasises Ökolöwe. It then goes on to make a clear demand: “To this day, there are no safe cycle lanes on Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße. Ökolöwe e.V. has been campaigning for years to ensure that people can cycle safely there and has put forward specific proposals for the redesign of the road.”

Waiting since 2012

On its own website dedicated to Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße, the Ökolöwe then notes just how long residents of Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße have actually been waiting for a few cycle lanes to be marked out there: “Back in 2012, the City of Leipzig’s Cycling Development Plan approved many new cycle routes, not all of which have, unfortunately, been implemented to date.

We Ökolöwen have repeatedly criticised this and therefore launched a petition in November 2020 calling for new pop-up cycle lanes in Leipzig. Our aim: to finally speed up the expansion of Leipzig’s cycling infrastructure! In October 2021, we at Ökolöwen achieved a major success: the City Council approved our call for more cycle paths in Leipzig. Many of these approved cycle paths were subsequently incorporated into the Transport Department’s new ‘Cycling Action Programme’ and are now set to be implemented step by step.”

However, apart from a very short section, Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße has absolutely no markings for cyclists along its entire length between Arno-Nitzsche-Straße and Bayrischer Platz.

A busy route running parallel to KarLi

“From Ökolöwe’s point of view, it doesn’t need these markings to become cycle-friendly: in the southernmost section between Arno-Nitzsche-Straße and Richard-Lehmann-Straße, it has more the character of a residential street. Here, it is sufficient to designate the section as a 30 km/h zone or to integrate it into the surrounding 30 km/h zone – similar to what has already been implemented on Bernhard-Göring-Straße. Furthermore, roadside trees could very easily be replanted in this section using the so-called ‘Zwickau model’.”

However, the accident occurred precisely at that junction between Richard-Lehmann-Straße and Arno-Nitzsche-Straße, at the junction with Scharnhorststraße. And cycling here isn’t quite as ‘residential’ as that, because for many cyclists coming from the south, Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße is the direct alternative to the busy Karl-Liebknecht-Straße.

This is also shown by the figures from the 2025 cycle traffic count. According to these, 5,600 cyclists use this route every day on the section just before Bayerischer Platz. This makes this section one of the busiest in Leipzig’s cycle path network. Heading south, the figures do drop, as cyclists naturally join this route from both the right and the left.

However, between Hohe Straße and Richard-Lehmann-Straße, the figures in 2025 were still very high, ranging from 2,500 to 3,600. This is actually the narrowest and most dangerous section of Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße for cyclists.

But the section to the south has long since ceased to have the character of a residential area. In the section where the accident occurred, 1,900 to 2,300 cyclists were still counted in 2025. Two primary schools are also located right next to this section.

No room for a cycle route?

Precisely because cycling along Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße had long since become too risky for him, City Councillor Thomas Kumbernuß (Die PARTEI) has repeatedly called on the city to reclassify the parallel Bernhard-Göring-Straße as a cycle route. But even with this proposal, he was fobbed off by the council.

“No one should have to fear for their life on their way to work, to school or on their way home. Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße finally needs safe cycle lanes,” says Matthias Uhlig, transport policy spokesperson for Ökolöwe e.V.

Ökolöwe e.V. is calling on the City of Leipzig to now implement the improvements to Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße that have been planned for years. These include:

safe and continuous cycle lanes on suitable sections of the road,

closing existing gaps in the cycle path network,

greater safety for cyclists at junctions and intersections,

and a higher priority for the development of safe cycle paths on Leipzig’s main roads.

“People must be able to cycle safely in Leipzig,” says Ökolöwe. “Arthur-Hoffmann-Straße therefore needs safe cycle paths now. They protect lives.”