Urban development Ground-breaking ceremony for the long redesign of Basel's Rheingasse

Together with the residents' association and those responsible for construction, Basel's Director of Construction and Transport Esther Keller (GLP) broke ground for the redesign of Basel's Rheingasse on Monday. The construction work will take three years.

Much has already been done in Rheingasse, the historic main street in Kleinbasel. The traffic regulations for the city center declared the former thoroughfare a pedestrian zone in 2015. It became such a zone when more and more restaurants and bars began to use the boulevard for their outdoor dining.

Only the street design remained the same, said Keller on Monday. This is now set to change - or as Keller put it: Rheingasse should finally be given the right face for a lively street.

Replacing old pipes

The Industrial Works Basel (IWB), which has to replace the old pipes and lay new ones for the district heating, set the deadline. In the end, the road surface is to be in line with the city center design concept, with an asphalt strip in the middle and polished Rheinwacken as a sidewalk replacement at the edges.

First, however, the cantonal archaeologists will take a look at the construction pits. Over the past few months, they have had to rush from emergency excavation to emergency excavation during the many district heating construction sites, as cantonal archaeologist Guido Lassau said.

The renovation of the alleyways is expected to last until the end of 2027. The first stage concerns the south-eastern section from Lindenberg to Reverenzgässlein.

Incidentally, holes will also be left open at the edges to allow plants to be planted on the façades. The canton will support interested residents with the greening, said Keller. With 27 interested parties, there are already quite a few, she said.

SDA