Should cyclists be allowed to drive through the Weilheim pedestrian zone during the day?
This was heavily discussed in the previous special session of the city council.
The proposal comes from the city's new cycle traffic concept and was submitted to the city council for a vote.
Weilheim
- At the last special session of the city council, the city's new cycle traffic concept was presented and then voted on. The city councils were unanimous on many points, but on one point the opinions diverged widely. The point of contention was a possible continuous opening of the pedestrian zone for cyclists, initially considered for a trial period of twelve months.
Traffic officer Manuel Neulinger was the first speaker to appeal to all city councils to adopt the concept in its entirety.
"We should now open the pedestrian zone," said the leader of the Greens.
The party has repeatedly spoken out in favor of such an approach.
Neulinger pleaded for a possible increased use of the security watch to steer bicycle traffic.
He also stated that several other cities have already opened their pedestrian zones to cyclists.
"And they survived well too."
Claud Reindl: "Even a bicycle has a brake"
Tillman Wahlefeld (BfW) saw it differently.
“I'm a passionate cyclist myself,” said the 56-year-old.
"But opening the pedestrian zone is not the thing in my opinion." His parliamentary colleague Claus Reindl was of the same opinion.
The former traffic officer of the city council said: "Even a bicycle has a brake." The pedestrian zone should continue to be only open to pedestrians.
Reindl brought up a possible opening of Buxbaumgasse in the northern section for cyclists.
This proposal was later included in the draft resolution and passed by the city council with 27: 2 votes.
The CSU parliamentary group leader Marion Lunz-Schmieder pointed out that her party was very critical of the proposal.
"After all, we are not Regensburg with a wide pedestrian zone." It is also not a significantly higher expenditure of time to push the bike through the pedestrian zone instead of using it.
“It's about all road users working together,” said the city councilor.
For her party colleague Klaus Gast, Marienplatz is “a no-go” for cyclists.
It is reasonable for both cyclists and motorists not to be allowed to drive through the pedestrian zone.
Hubert Schwaiger: "We want to let the children jump further"
Hubert Schwaiger (BfW) warned urgently of the possible risk of accidents that could be caused by cyclists in the pedestrian zone.
He referred to seniors.
“And we want the children to keep jumping.” He sees a risk of enjoying the pedestrian zone from fast cyclists.
Gerd Ratter and Roland Bosch from the ÖDP, on the other hand, both spoke out in favor of implementing the overall concept.
“I support the proposals,” said Ratter, and Bosch added in his speech: “I would like to implement the concept”.
Bosch wanted a quick implementation.
Karl-Heinz Grehl from the Greens addressed the other city councilors with clear words.
“We wanted to think about how we could get motorists on bikes,” he said.
"But now we're talking about children jumping in the pedestrian zone." He named the cities of Regensburg, Tübingen and Sonthofen as examples in which opening the pedestrian zone had worked without any problems.
"At first you are very critical, then it doesn't work, and suddenly it works," he said.
As a compromise, Grehl suggested cycling time from 8 p.m. to 11 a.m.
"Then at least the children could drive through the pedestrian zone on their way to school."
Brigitte Holeczek: "The cyclist doesn't break a spike from the crown when he dismounts"
Brigitte Holeczek felt compelled to "pour water into the wine". The BfW parliamentary group leader said she was happy when something improved for cyclists, "but never at the expense of other road users". As senior adviser to the city council, she spoke out against cycling across Marienplatz. “The cyclist doesn't break a spike when he gets off the bike,” she added. Those who do not dismount are doing so out of sheer convenience. Holeczek, who claims to be enthusiastic about cycling, compared cyclists to running water: "They look for the path they want to ride, and there we can steer what we want."
Brigitte Gronau made the last contribution.
The Green representative was visibly upset and tried to turn things around again.
With the words: “Let's just do it and not talk everything to death!” She called on her colleagues to act.
"We finally have a decision that we want to become climate neutral."
But the city council decided differently in the end: A trial opening of the pedestrian zone was rejected with 15:14 votes.
Mayor Markus Loth (BfW) also voted against it.
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