New construction of Rhine footbridge in the two cities of Rheinfelden

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Both cities of Rheinfelden (D and CH) want to build a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across the Rhine. This will be around 4.5 metres wide and around 300 metres long. It will create a connection between Germany and Switzerland across the natural border for cyclists and pedestrians. It will serve the adjacent populations of both cities of Rheinfelden, but will also indirectly contribute to reducing the impact on the environment. The new Rhine footbridge is to be built a little below the site of the former hydroelectric power plant on the German side at the level of the industrial area, and on the Swiss side at the level of the spa and rehabilitation facilities. The new connection across the Rhine is required because the “old Rhine bridge” has only limited suitability for cyclists due to the large paving slabs. The Rhine crossing at the new (motorway) bridge of the A861 is too far away for interaction between the two cities and means the detours are too long for cyclists. As a number of health and rehabilitation facilities are located on the Swiss side near the planned site of the footbridge, and many people commute from Rheinfelden (Baden) for work, they currently have to take a long detour across the "Old Rhine bridge”– or use their car instead. The new connection between the two border cities close to the workplace for many German commuters is therefore of particular importance in terms of daily pedestrian and bike traffic. A new residential area (Grendelmatt III) is also being built on the Baden side close to the planned footbridge, so it is very likely that the number of commuters to Switzerland will increase further due to the growth in the population. Besides this, as part of the electrification of the Upper Rhine rail route, an additional stop is to be included near the industrial area – and therefore very close to the planned footbridge. Faster and more convenient access to jobs in Switzerland would therefore be opened up for commuters. The planned new footbridge will contribute to motorised traffic being reduced and pedestrian and bike traffic increasing in both cities of Rheinfelden. Encouraging pedestrian and bike traffic is a central concern of urban development in both cities of Rheinfelden. Pollution as well as noise emission can be appreciably reduced. Besides this inner city development in both cities of Rheinfelden, the planned footbridge also plays a part in the field of leisure and tourism. For it creates a link between the Swiss national cycling route and the Aargau hiking trails and German Rhine Valley / southern Black Forest route as well as connections to the Dinkelberg.

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