Authorities in Berlin are setting up temporary bicycle lanes to meet demand for safe cycling on the German capital's streets during the coronavirus pandemic, angering some motorists.
The move is intended to help people get about the city without having to use public transport, where social distancing can be difficult.
Felix Weisbrich, who oversees street planning in Berlin's district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, said kilometres of new 'pop-up' bike lanes now being set aside for cyclists would have been implemented in the long term anyway.
"We are bringing them forward against the backdrop of the pandemic and the need to maintain distancing," he told public broadcaster rbb today.
But cycling advocates say the outbreak appears to have encouraged the city's administration to slice through reams of bureaucratic red tape that would normally have delayed the process by years.