10 % of all the paths can be covered on a bicycle; in small and medium-sized towns, in particular, because of the short distances, the bicycle can actually be an attractive alternative to motorized traffic. The most important prerequisite for this is a high degree of safety and comfort.

That is the direction that efforts and investments have taken since the 1992 bicycling path concept for the city, which has since been implemented to a great extent. Apart from inner-city routes, we have significantly improved the routes to parts of the city and the surroundings.

The links in the East-West direction are of high quality; there are still some gaps in the North-South direction, mainly for topographical reasons. Apart from the separately marked bicycling paths, there are also the expanded 30-speed-limit zones (30 kilometers) in the residential areas; the fact that cyclists are allowed to go both ways in many of the one-way streets in the inner city, or will be allowed to after reconstruction, is also worth mentioning.

The most important projects in the last two years were the bicycle paths along the B 415, to Schwanau along the B 36 and – completed in June 2005 – along the Freiburger Straße (B 3). Construction of the bicycle path between Sulz and the B3 will be started in 2005 itself.

The cycling routes are also marked in the Lahr city maps. For cycling tours or bicycle hikes, the latest set of maps “Bicycling in the Ortenau“, published by the Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg is highly recommended.