River restoration from Mindet to the Harbour
There are plans to restore the river to its natural state along the stretch between Mindebrogade and its mouth. The area is currently occupied by a number of roads, including the two-lane Åboulevard with parking to the south-west of Europahuset, as well as Dynkarken/Havnegade and Europaplads.
iThe ‘Roads to the Future 2020’ road plan provides a sketch of the future route. The plan is to close Åboulevarden between Mindebrogade and Europaplads completely to motorists. Traffic will be rerouted in two ways.
Firstly, the road from Mindet – which currently runs past Hotel Atlantic and into Åboulevarden – will be moved closer to the hotel and channelled into Dynkarken opposite Mindegade. Mindegade will remain a one-way street towards Dynkarken.
Secondly, Mindebrogade will be given higher priority, making it the main access route from Havnegade into the northern section of Åboulevarden, Fiskegade, Fredens Torv and Mindegade.
In other words, this means that the current covered section of Åboulevarden can be fully opened up, thereby creating a fairly wide stretch of the river. In principle, it is possible to create a river basin large enough to accommodate various types of boat access, subject to the proviso that boats of standard height will require Dynkarken to be fitted with a bascule bridge.
Dynkarken’s crossing of the river and junction with Havnegade will be constructed as a bridge (possibly with a bascule section), and there will subsequently be no traffic constraints on the area east of Havnegade, apart from the Grenå railway line, which runs in an arc east of Havnegade. The Grenå railway line is, however, intended to be built along a route integrated into the Dynkarken and Havnegade as part of the construction of the light rail system.
Detailed planning of the river’s outlet into the harbour, the route of the recreational footpath and cycle path, and the layout of the areas at Honnørkajen and the old Færgekaj remains outstanding; which, amongst other things, is pending a final plan for and coordination with the forthcoming Multimedia Centre (=library), which is to be situated on the site and form the so-called southern bastion of the harbour front.