For the second time in two years, a recent trip to the German countryside brought my wife, Momo, her family and friends, and me to a proud tradition in this section of the former East Germany. The popular Glasbach Rennen is a hill-climbing set of time trials up a closed public road. The main event commenced on Father’s Day, just a few hours before people traversed Peachtree Street in a pedestrian-friendly festival atmosphere called Atlanta Streets Alive.
While in stark contrast, the auto-celebrating Glasbach Rennan and the car-free Atlanta Streets Alive each show us how regular commuter traffic can survive major street closures.
Glasbach Rennen, or the Glass Hill Race, draws steeple-chasing racers from all parts of Europe to a 5.2-kilometer (3.2-mile), 35-turn road that ascends over 850 feet. Race drivers have to continuously accelerate, brake, shift and turn, especially in the tricky chicane at the halfway point.
Oh, and the course is just roughly 20 feet wide, creating a thin margin for error, as drivers adroitly nail apexes and corner exits.
Race fans or curious partygoers, many of which are one in the same, flank the track in different designated points. Similar to the fan experience at Braselton’s Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, there are bleachers in some sections. But many spots in this mountainous Thuringian forest are just cleared-out overlooks for fans to sit with camping chairs and picnic blankets.
Fans watch different classes of cars squeal and roar by, one at a time, as each entry hopes to best the time of their competitors. Classes range from communist-era jalopies to open-wheel formula rides, each affixed with modern safety and racing equipment.
But this fan experience is not really about tracking tenths of seconds and most of the 150-plus drivers in this FIA-sanctioned race compete in moderate obscurity.
“It’s cool to see cars that go on the normal streets are ‘pimped out’,” Ercan Mertol told the AJC and 95.5 WSB. Mertol, along with his wife, Nuray, and three sons, attended this race for the first time, alongside us. Mertol added that seeing fast cars, “Is an exciting thing for a young person.”
Frenchman Geoffrey Schatz broke the track record with a blistering 1 minute, 55 second climb in the first run on Sunday and most drivers and teams gathered their hot rods and equipment at the bottom of the hill after their last runs. The village of Steinbach played host to this horsepower, with makeshift garages (paddocks) along the streets, in parking lots, and even in at least one driveway of a private home.
This commotion blocked off far more streets than did the main race course.
The Mertol boys and hundreds of other fans, who hiked over a mile off the track and into town, could mingle with the drivers and their treasured rides.
Local racer Thomas Hoffman campaigned a white, open wheel 2008 Formula 3 Renault that he said was more suited for a closed road circuit and not a climb. Czech driver Tereza Machova, one of a handful of women racing this event, drove a blue sports car with closed fenders and an open cockpit – a Norma M20F. Many more were also on display just minutes after tearing up this mountain.
To get to different parts of the course, fans can take shuttles or hike through the dense forest, as we did. A nice hike in the shade can help burn off those pesky racing beer calories. Our group covered about six miles on foot this day, even with a ride in the press bus.
The Glasbach Rennan, like Atlanta Streets Alive, is a truly unique experience.
Here at home, Atlanta Streets Alive is an open streets project – or an initiative to limit or eliminate vehicles from roads so that people can claim them. This has taken place in some shape or form in Atlanta since 2010, with the 2024 editions occurring once per month on Sundays from May to November.
The most recent of these shut a 2.3-mile stretch of Peachtree Street from 10th Street in Midtown to Mitchell Street in Downtown. Vendors line the road, as it is open for walkers, cyclists and the like. The autumn iterations of the festival will shut Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard/Georgia Avenue from Langhorn Street to Cherokee Avenue – from Summerhill to the West End.
Both Peachtree and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard are major arteries and the city shuts both down for more than four hours on each of these Sundays. Atlantans somehow survive. And they often do, even when major closures are unplanned.
Various cities, particularly in Europe, have adopted more permanent versions of open streets. Some employ strict car-free zones or dramatically regulate how often cars can enter their downtown areas. This works more easily in places with heavy public transit or high density living areas close to where people play, shop, work, and go to school.
Could the City of Atlanta shut down select stretches of Peachtree or a similar bustling road more often? Doing so would certainly bring pushback. Regularly or permanently shutting the right street could actually bring more business, create a safer environment for pedestrians, and force people to walk and be more fit.
As crazy as closing Peachtree Street. sounds, the AJC Peachtree Road Race closes six miles of Atlanta’s most famous road for hours on each July 4th.
Gwinnett County annually closes vital Ronald Reagan Parkway in Lilburn for an entire weekend for the “Run the Reagan” foot race.
The City of Roswell often holds open streets events and has had continuous debates about whether or not to permanently close a section of Canton Street to cars.
Just days before this goes to press, 10th Street in Midtown Atlanta was shut down for an extended time for the CNN Presidential Debate. Secret Service also instituted temporary roadblocks. And June 27 was not a holiday.
Big cities worldwide routinely close their city centers to host grand prix races or accommodate festivals. The world still turns.
More people have to be won over for Atlanta or a suburban city to start doing more open streets projects. But Atlanta Streets Alive, Germany’s Glasbach Rennen, and countless other examples prove that communities can weather the closures and can welcome the benefits they often bring.
Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. Download the Triple Team Traffic Alerts App to hear reports from the WSB Traffic Team automatically when you drive near trouble spots. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
