Public participation: The area around Westbahnhof is to become more attractive

A lot is currently changing around Westbahnhof. This is not least due to the large new Zeiss AG building with the associated new roads, the prospective change in bus routing and an increased number of passengers. Accordingly, the Westbahnhof is gaining in importance as a gateway to the city and is to become more attractive together with its surroundings. For this reason, the city of Jena is currently working with a planning office to draw up a framework plan for the area around the station as well as Westbahnhofstraße and Schillerstraße, including Engelplatz, towards the city center by mid-2024.

Public participation

The public's opinion is now in demand: the draft variants developed can be viewed digitally from Monday, February 5 until February 16, 2024 on the municipal website can be viewed and commented on. The results of this public participation will then be evaluated and presented on 21.02.2024 at a public planning workshop in Jena's historic town hall.

Mayor and Head of Urban Development and Environment Christian Gerlitz invites all citizens to participate. "In order to get closer to the goal of an attractive, sustainable and future-oriented station (environment) including its mobility links, I would like to call on you to participate in the planning for the design of the three sub-areas of Jena West Station, Westbahnhofstraße and Engelplatz," he emphasizes.

Flexible concept

A non-binding planning vision with a time horizon of 5 to 30 years is being developed in the framework planning. Different development options will be presented depending on the availability of space and the willingness of third parties to participate. As a result, a flexible concept is to be created as a guideline for the development of the planning area, in which the following topics are bundled:

• Urban design (e.g. buildings and squares)
• reorganization of uses (e.g. commercial and railroad)
• traffic functions (e.g. pedestrian and cycle paths, bike+ride, public transport and car traffic)
• Creation of green and open spaces (e.g. green square with seating)