K-Town goes car-free for inline skaters this summer

Four times during the summer, inline-skaters can enjoy car-free routes in Kaiserslautern.

The city will start its skate night season from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting location and starting point will always be on the Alte Theaterplatz (parking lot next to former Karstadt department store).

The Kaiserslautern skating association will co-organize the event.

The event will begin with an entertaining program at 7 p.m. on the Alte Theaterplatz. Those who don’t feel safe enough on their skates can take part in a training session with the local skating association at 7 p.m. Certified instructors will be available to show skaters some special techniques.

Warm up will start at 8 p.m. The 1,100-meter-long warm up route goes from the parking lot around Fruchthalle and back.

Joachim Färber, the head of the sports department, will give the starting signal at 8:30 p.m. Participants will then start skating on a 14-kilometer route leading from Maxstrasse onto Pariser Strasse, then from Rudolph-Breitscheid-Strasse into Königstrasse.

The route continues over Hohenecker Strasse and Burgherrenstrasse into the Erfenbachtal on federal street B270 and downhill back to Pariser Strasse and Königstrasse to the beginning. This will also be the route for the skate night scheduled for July 20. It is considered a route for trained skaters who know their braking techniques.

The other two skate nights will be conducted July 6 and Aug. 3 and will lead participants over the East City Tour. The East City Tour starts on Maxstrasse, continues on Pariser Strasse, Rudolph Breitscheid-Strasse, Logenstrasse and Barbarossastrasse and then into the east part of the city. Then it continues on Entersweiler Strasse, passes the public swimming pool Warmfreibad and Daennerplatz, onto Mannheimer Strasse, and on Altenwoogstrasse and Fischerstrasse back to the starting point. This course is 9 kilometers long and is good for beginners. Organizers recommend all skaters wear helmets.

For more information, visit www.kaiserslautern.de or www.skaten-kl.de.