Business people concerned

Brünner Straße cycle path a dead end for the district?

This is where the cycle path is to go. More stores could soon be empty.(Bild: Zwefo)

Parking spaces on Brünner Straße in Vienna-Floridsdorf will be lost due to a new double-lane cycle path. The local business people are unhappy. They fear that their customers will stay away without parking. Some are already talking about closing down.

The city likes to boast that it has the largest cycle path construction program. And the figures also show that more and more cyclists are on the road. However, the expansion is not causing a jubilant mood everywhere. Instead of the existing single-lane cycle path on Brünner Straße, a new double-lane is planned in the direction of the city center. Although this is not due to be implemented until 2026, local business owners are already up in arms about it.

"When the cycle path comes, that's it"
The new cycle path will eliminate all short-stay parking spaces on the Brünner Straße inbound carriageway. The "Krone" was on site and asked around. On hot summer days, customers queue up at Marco Perugini's to refresh themselves with an ice cream. "When the cycle path comes, that will be the end of it," he is convinced. His customers stop off in their cars after work and take an ice cream home with them. If they can't find a parking space, they will drive on.

Our customers, if they can find a parking space, will stop and get an ice cream to take home. If there are no more parking spaces, our business will collapse.

Marco Perugini, Eisverkäufer

Bild: Zwefo

"Already a dying shopping street"
For electronics retailer Walter Weissborn, the loss of parking spaces would also be extremely detrimental to business: "My customers can't transport their televisions by bike." Specialist stores like his already have a hard time with online retail. Mortician Hermann Furtner puts the fears of all local business people into words: "Brünner Straße is already a dying shopping street. With the planned cycle path, even more stores will close."

Real estate agent Heinrich Springer is in favor of cycle paths, but he misses a corresponding traffic survey for this project, because so far he has only seen a few cyclists on Brünner Straße. And former district councillor Hans Jörg Schimanek also criticizes: "This is an attack on all non-cyclists and the local business community."