Plans for Alpenstrasse to be turned into avenue lined with cherry trees

The winning designs for the re-configuration of Alpenstrasse and Gotthardstrasse were presented at a function held by the city on Wednesday evening.

The concept chosen, out of eight submitted, is known as Chriesi (cherry in Swiss-German) and was drawn up by the Büro Didler and bbz Bern GmbH companies. As Christian Schnieper, the city architect, said, these designs were chosen, among other reasons, for the way they brought “lingering quality” and traffic together in what is to be a "shared-zone", i.e. pedestrians and traffic subjected to a maximum 30 kph limit. Equally impressed by the Chriesi project was jury member Patrick Altermatt, himself a landscape architect.

The concept includes traffic lights giving priority to buses in this Alpenstrasse, Gotthardstrasse and Bundesplatz area, enabling them, too, to be able to keep to their timetables more easily. All has been tested out through traffic-simulation technology, and it all seemed to work. To crown off the whole project, an avenue of cherry trees is to be planted from the station to the lake.

The various designs submitted are currently on display on Nicoleplatz. If all goes well, work could start on the project in 2020 or 2021.