Hello
Can anyone who masters German please tell me more about this topic. All I know is that there is a project to pedestrianise the street.

I would be very grateful for an outline of the "for" and "against" issues.

Thank you.

In the mean time, there is Google!

Here and here.

Thank you!

When getting into the Basler Zeitung to get info about it, I under BASEL first of all met THIS nice youngster




The origin of the renovation project for the Elisabethenstrasse is the need to repair and improve the Tram-infrastructure (rails, stations) in that road, and to get more space for the pedestrians. The street will not be completely "pedestrianized, but no longer will be open for transit car-traffic.

The authorities hope that much of the motor-car traffic between "Gross-Basel" (west of the Rhein) and "Klein-Basel" (east of the Rhein, around Basel-Bad-Bhf) will move to the Nordtangente
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordtangente_%28Basel%29
-- it to me is obvious that much of the discussion in Basel will be whether this notion is realistic or not

It's not a particularly interesting street (apart from the church and associated cafe) so I think it's a waste of money to do much with it. However, not having small tram platforms with the tracks on one side and cars whizzing past on the other would be a good change.

Exactly THESE points most likely are the discussion points. I have seen the street at times, and would say that "not a particularily interesting street" is an extremely polite expression for a boring and dreary road. All cities I have met have such streets, inavoidable in fact. So that the question is what to do with them. When Zurich made the Weststrasse traffic-free, its uglyness suddenly became more apparent than ever. But Elisabethenstrasse is not half as ugly as Weststrasse and so might still get uplifted in a sensible way. I think, the problem for many Baslers is that all in the end will depend on planning details and its long term effects.

Again back to Weststrasse in Zch, when the road became part of the "West-Tangente", it for decades had a number of very good restaurants, but most of them in the late 1990ies and the 00ies disappeared, as did many shops. It will take that road many years if not decades to recover. Another example in Zurich is the Schanzengraben, for a century just the backyard of everything. Some 20 (or some more) years ago, the City government decided to upgrade the whole thing, with new walkways etc. It for many years remained a backyard, but in recent years gradually started to develop. It still is not attractive, but improving. Now, the position of the Elisabethenstrasse is far better, and so, a lot will depend on what will be done in detail. I hope, the Baslers will approve the proposal (as they most likely will).

Actually, from what I can picture of that street in my head (unfortunately no streetview from Google on Elisabethenstrasse ), I don't think it is too bad, certainly there are other streets I can see more in need of improvement.

On the other hand, I think that there is a lot of potential for the shops and such on that street, especially as (according to my hubby), there is some discussion (plans even?) to uncover the waterway that is currently covered by streets and such in that general area. If they do that downtown, they'll certainly need some more pedestrian ways.

There may be other streets in need of improvement, BUT the El.. is one of the main-links between the Basel-SBB area and the inner-city, and of strategic importance. By this I refer mostly to pedestrians.