Road traffic Bern's Guisanplatz is to be redesigned

The canton and the city of Bern want to redesign Guisanplatz together with the Bernmobil transport company. The most important measure is the relocation of the streetcar stop, as announced by the Cantonal Department of Construction and Transport on Wednesday. The project will be made public.

The Papiermühle/Rodtmatt/Mingerstrasse junction has reached its capacity limits. The streetcar stop at Guisanplatz is therefore to be relocated to Papiermühlestrasse, as the Department of Construction and Transport wrote on its website on Wednesday. The new stop will be located in the area of the Federal Administration and the new festival hall. This will increase capacity.

The new stop will shorten the journey time by streetcar in both directions by around one minute. The main cycle route between Bern and Ostermundigen will be upgraded, the report continued. The adapted traffic routing also requires a new traffic light system.

New green space

The existing trees will be preserved. In front of the Novotel, the asphalt area between the streetcar turning loop and Mingerstrasse will be converted into a green space with eleven new trees. Further climate measures are also planned.

The streetcar loop across Guisanplatz and the current tram stop are to be retained so that they can continue to be used during major events. The new stop will be built with disabled access in mind and the old stop will be upgraded accordingly.

At the same time as designing Guisanplatz, the City of Bern is planning to renew the urban drainage system in the area of the square and Papiermühlestrasse. The two projects - urban drainage and the new Guisanplatz bus stop - are due to be completed in 2026 and 2027.

The project will be open to the public from August 12 to September 16.