In January 2026, ESWE Versorgung will resume district heating construction work. The district heating pipes will be laid mainly on the east side. To avoid motorists having to get used to new traffic routing every few weeks, the laying of pipes on the west side has been brought forward. There will only be a few short periods during which the traffic routing will have to be changed again. The redesign will then begin in the second quarter of 2026 in the Rheinstraße-Luisenstraße section, also on the east side, with car traffic continuing to flow on the west side during this time.

The redevelopment of Schwalbacher Straße has been discussed and advocated for decades. Several concepts and analyses have concluded that the redevelopment could make the city more attractive and classify it as an important measure for the city center. The city council has already passed several resolutions on the redevelopment.

The relocation of district heating now makes it possible to carry out construction work together, which will save costs.

Initial preparatory construction work has already been completed: coming from Rheinstraße, a connection to the west side has been built for car traffic so that the east side can be cleared. The new fourth lane on the west side and the seven new traffic lights will also benefit from the redesign. The actual redesign will follow the laying of the district heating pipes. Once these have been laid, the redesign will begin. At present, this can only be specified for the first sections. In the second quarter of 2026, the redevelopment will begin at the Rheinstraße intersection.

All parking garages along Schwalbacher Straße will remain accessible – both in the long term and during construction work. The Mauritiusgalerie parking garage can be accessed from Michelsberg by making a U-turn in the median strip. The parking garage of the former Kaufhof department store can be accessed from Rheinstraße via the new right-turn lane.

The buses traveling from Rheinstraße toward Michelsberg will be able to get through more easily with the redesign because they will have their own continuous bus lane. A total of three stops in this direction will be rebuilt or made barrier-free and widened to provide more space for waiting passengers. In the southbound direction, a continuous bus lane (here with shared use by bicycles) is also planned in the final stage of construction; for a transitional period, buses will use the right-hand car lane in the middle section. 

Pedestrians will benefit in particular: the sidewalks will be significantly widened, and on the east side—i.e., the downtown side—they will be about three times as wide as they are today. The new trees will provide shade in summer, and benches will allow pedestrians to take a short break. At Mauritiusstraße, the city is installing a new pedestrian traffic light to facilitate the connection between downtown and Westend.

For cyclists, a continuous, dedicated bike lane will be built from Rheinstraße to Mauritiusstraße, with bikes and buses sharing a green lane further along. The city is installing additional bike racks in many places, including rain-protected ones under the Luisenforum overpass.

Disabled parking spaces that cannot remain in their current location due to the redesign will be relocated nearby.

The first two construction phases on the east side—i.e., the city center side—are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. A schedule for the remaining phases has yet to be drawn up. It is common practice for large-scale projects to be carried out in phases over several years because urban personnel and funds are limited and because construction sites should not be set up in too many places at the same time.  

Traffic forecasts have shown that Schwalbacher Straße will function even with high traffic volumes. Where necessary, adjustments have already been made, for example with the new right-turn lane into Luisenstraße.

In addition, construction sites in the city center are usually suspended during the pre-Christmas period, so there will be no additional congestion here.