Kohlberg near Altena: what the ten-point plan means for motorcyclists

• The town entrance signs are to move around 200 metres towards Neuenrade, and a stepped speed limit of 70 and 50 km/h is being examined.
• A fixed speed camera is planned as the final stage if the other measures do not work.
• The SPD wants the same measures at the entrance to Evingsen on the L683 as well.

The Kohlberg is one of the routes in the Märkischer Kreis district that are popular with motorcyclists. That is exactly what has been causing conflict in Dahle, a district of Altena, for years. Now the CDU group has tabled a motion intended to tackle the problem step by step. It was on the agenda of the committee for urban development, environment and transport on 22 September 2026. It was brought forward by group leader Tobias Röbbecke and Dahle’s local mayor Helmar Roder. Both explicitly stress that their initiative is not aimed at motorcyclists in general. Their concern is individual riders who do not stick to the rules.

What is the CDU demanding for the Kohlberg in Altena?

The CDU wants the town administration to work with the road traffic authority, the police and the state road agency Straßen.NRW to develop a coordinated plan against noise and speeding on the Kohlberg. To that end, the motion lists ten points that are to be examined one after another and implemented where legally possible.

The motion is subtitled “consistent action against speeders and reckless road users”. According to the applicants, the background is complaints about high speeds and heavy noise on Neuenrader Straße in the Kohlberg area. Weekends with good weather and the evening hours are said to be particularly affected.

The CDU sees its motion as a medium-term plan in several stages. The specialist departments are not to be burdened with all the tasks at once. Simple measures that have a direct effect on riding behaviour are to come first, such as better signage and a speed display board. At the same time, reliable data on speed, noise and accidents is to be collected. Only if all that is not enough will a fixed speed camera be up for debate.

Signs and speed limits

The first point concerns the town entrance signs on Neuenrader Straße. Provided this is legally permissible, they are to be moved around 200 metres towards Neuenrade. The idea is that people from outside the area in particular notice earlier that the built-up area begins and a 50 km/h limit applies.

Beyond the junction with “Alter Weg”, additional and clearly visible signs are to point out the permitted 50 km/h, ideally on both sides of the road. It is also to be checked with Straßen.NRW whether a 70 km/h limit can apply from the Neuenrade direction even before the last right-hand bend ahead of the Mühlhofstraße junction. By the junction itself at the latest, the limit is then to drop to 50 km/h.

Display board, measurements and accident analysis

A mobile speed display board is to be installed as soon as possible at the entrance to Neuenrader Straße 27. It is not only to show the speed being ridden but also give positive feedback when riders stick to the limit. At the same time, it is to store the data, especially at weekends with good weather and in the evening hours.

There are already two fixed measuring points outside the built-up area. The administration is to present their results to the committee, including average and peak values, the number of violations and differences between weekdays, weekends and evenings. However, the CDU doubts that these measuring points accurately reflect the situation in the affected area. That is why it is calling for additional measurements.

These include temporary noise measurements, possibly by the pollution control authority, the body responsible for burdens such as noise and exhaust emissions. In addition, the town is to work with the police to analyse accidents on the Kohlberg over recent years. The focus is on motorcycle accidents, serious injuries, accident black spots, times of day and, where known, the causes.

Checks, speed camera and report

The administration is to lobby the police for regular targeted checks, specifically at the times of heaviest traffic. Besides speed, risky riding, avoidable noise and other violations are to be checked. Particular attention is to be paid to riders who ride the route several times and well over the limit.

If the measures do not have a sufficient effect, a fixed speed camera between the driveways of the families living there is to be examined. This also involves practical questions such as responsibility and power supply. The tenth point obliges the administration to report to the committee after a certain period on how speed, traffic, noise, checks and accident figures have developed.

Is the motion aimed at all motorcyclists?

No, the CDU explicitly stresses this in its justification. It states that motorcyclists are part of road traffic just like all other road users and are of course welcome.

The applicants see the problem with individual riders who disregard the rules and, as they describe it, sometimes use the route like a racetrack. Hard acceleration in low gears in particular is said to cause a lot of noise. It is said to be especially stressful when individual motorcyclists ride up and down the Kohlberg six to eight times in a row. According to the CDU, for residents this is not an occasional nuisance but a regular burden at weekends and in the evenings.

What incident is behind the motion?

One trigger was the case of a motorcyclist who allegedly flipped up his number plate in mid-July when he was being photographed. Diana and Joachim Schaumann live directly on Sonnenstraße below the Kohlberg and had previously complained publicly about noise and reckless riding.

According to their account, the same motorcyclist was already riding up the hairpins for the sixth time that day. Joachim Schaumann, a lawyer by profession, then pointed a camera at him. A photo from 15 July shows the couple watching a motorcyclist riding well over the limit. The rider is said to have flipped up his number plate to avoid being identified. However, Schaumann had already photographed the plate beforehand. The data was passed on to the police.

The issue is not new. Residents of Neuenrader Straße, Ehrenmalstraße, Sonnenstraße and the streets on the church side have been pointing out the noise and the dangers of speeding between Altena and Neuenrade for years. According to the CDU, the situation was already discussed on site with mayor Guido Thal in the spring. The ideas raised there are now to feed into the plan.

Why is the Kohlberg so popular with motorcyclists?

The route over the Kohlberg is twisty, has hairpin bends and a resurfaced road. As early as 2020, noise from motorcyclists who like to take this route was a contentious issue in Dahle.

By his own account, the resurfacing of the L698 over the Kohlberg goes back to Helmar Roder. The local mayor, who has held the office for around 17 years, had spent a long time writing letters to Straßen.NRW about the poor condition of the road. Today he is one of the signatories of the motion against noise on the very same route.

How often do the police carry out checks on the Kohlberg?

The Märkischer Kreis police regularly carry out checks on the Kohlberg, with at least two larger operations in 2026 alone. For the authority, it is one of the routes in the district that are popular with motorcyclists, as is the Nordhelle between Meinerzhagen and Herscheid.

During the “Sicher mobil leben” (safe mobility) action day at the end of April 2026, there were technical inspections and speed checks there. Across the district, only two motorcyclists were caught speeding that day. One of them was a Dutchman who was travelling 32 km/h too fast in Lüdenscheid.

A targeted operation on Sunday, 12 July 2026, between 11 am and 7 pm produced considerably more violations. It was carried out as part of the so-called Netzwerk Krad, an alliance of several police authorities in the region. Checks were carried out on the Kohlberg, the Nordhelle, the K2 and K3 in Kierspe, the L539 near Meinerzhagen-Ihne and the L709 in the Listertal, among other places. According to the police, the results for the whole district were as follows:

• 339 road users were cautioned, including 103 motorcyclists.
• Among motorcyclists, the police recorded 69 speeding offences, 21 technical defects and 11 other violations.
• A KTM rider was 45 km/h over the limit outside a built-up area. That means a 320 euro (around 365 US dollar) fine, two penalty points in Flensburg and a one-month riding ban.
• One motorcycle was impounded because of illegal modifications, and the police seized the exhaust systems of two others.
• Two riders were reported for not holding the appropriate licence.

The police have announced that they will continue such targeted checks together with their partners in the network.

How dangerous is the route for motorcyclists?

According to the CDU, there were again several motorcycle accidents on the Kohlberg this year, on both the Dahle and the Neuenrade side, some with such serious consequences that a rescue helicopter had to be called. There is no detailed analysis for the route so far. That is exactly what the motion is calling for.

A case from June 2025 shows how such accidents can unfold. In the second bend of the hairpins below the Tiroler Stuben restaurant, a 22-year-old motorcyclist from Dortmund hit the crash barrier, according to the police. He was riding downhill towards Neuenrade with a group and was thrown over the barrier into the bushes. The rescue helicopter Christoph 8 landed on a ski meadow and flew him to a hospital in Bochum. The road was fully closed until around 8 pm.

For the Märkischer Kreis as a whole, the police give the following figures: in 2025, 98 motorcyclists were involved in accidents there. Three of them died and 35 were seriously injured. The police consider excessive and inappropriate speed to be one of the main causes of accidents with serious consequences.

SPD wants the measures for Evingsen too

The SPD group supports the CDU’s stepped approach and has submitted a supplementary motion. It wants the same measures at the entrance to Evingsen on the L683, coming from Hemer. It was signed by SPD managing director Nina Hoffmann and Evingsen’s local mayor Thomas Schmitz.

There, too, the town sign is to be moved further out, to the junction of the L683 and Zur Roleye. If that is not possible, a stepped speed limit of 70 and then 50 km/h is to be examined. In addition, there are to be noise measurements, an accident analysis for the Evingsen and Ihmert area, regular checks and an assessment of a fixed speed camera. According to the SPD, residents in Evingsen also report repeated loud motorcycle rides. The village’s location in a valley basin is said to amplify the sound further.

The SPD describes the L683 as the most accident-prone stretch of road in Altena, especially between Elfenfohren and Bachstraße. In 2025 the Märkischer Kreis is said to have carried out 130 mobile speed checks there. With its motion, the SPD says it also wants to prevent the problem from shifting from the Kohlberg to other routes. It, too, stresses that the aim is not to criticise motorcyclists or drivers across the board.

What happens next with the motion?

No committee decision on the Kohlberg has been published yet. The CDU motion was item 5 on the agenda on 22 September 2026. According to the CDU, it is to be discussed at the following meeting of the town council after the committee.

The SPD’s supplementary motion on Evingsen is to be discussed in the main committee on 12 October 2026. The council meeting on it is scheduled for 9 November 2026. How many of the ten points are ultimately implemented also depends on the other authorities, above all the road traffic authority, Straßen.NRW and the police.

The Kohlberg is not an isolated case. The police in the Märkischer Kreis monitor several popular motorcycle routes, and through the Netzwerk Krad they work with the authorities in Olpe, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Soest, the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, the Oberbergischer Kreis and the Hochsauerlandkreis. The debate in Altena is therefore part of a wider dispute about noise and safety on the region’s motorcycle routes.

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