The main topic of the citizens' meeting was the traffic, especially on the county road through the town.
A little more than 50 Grafrathers had come.
Many of them demanded 30 km / h on the road.
Grafrath - But Mayor Markus Kennerknecht made it clear that the community's hands are largely tied.
It was the first citizens' meeting in two years after last year's one had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
During this time, displeasure had evidently built up on one topic in particular.
“The noise on Mauerner Strasse is getting worse and worse,” scolded a local resident.
This street is a section of the district street, which extends over the Bahnhofstraße to the end of the village in the direction of Moorenweis.
According to the residents, one of the reasons for the pollution is reflections from neighboring houses, but also from a retaining wall that cannot be removed due to the topographical conditions.
The man sees Tempo 30 as the only possibility for noise protection. "Why can't you do that?" He asked.
Two residents and one resident joined his demand.
There was talk of "unbearable conditions".
Fear of reference cases
Complaints of this kind are nothing new to Kennerknecht.
“I have to devote a large part of my working time to the subject of traffic,” he said.
When it comes to Tempo 30 on the county road, they have not been idle - but fail at the district office.
"We would all want Tempo 30, there are also resolutions of the local council", reported the town hall chief.
The problem is the road traffic regulations.
As the responsible traffic authority, this gives the district office a certain amount of discretion.
"And the district is currently not exercising in favor of Tempo 30," said Kennerknecht.
Successful action by residents
The mayor suspected the reasons: "It seems that the district office is very afraid of creating reference cases." In other districts such as Starnberg or Landsberg, citizens have observed that the authorities are more willing to prescribe Tempo 30 on district roads .
One of the citizens therefore asked how the Bruck district administrator “can get on the roof”.
Kennerknecht said that the community had already exhausted legal remedies - to no avail.
"But it has been shown that residents may have a better legal position than the community." He did not want to drive anyone into a lawsuit, which may be expensive, said Kennerknecht.
But residents of Graf-Rasso-Straße successfully sued for a speed limit as a noise protection measure.
Become loud
Arthur Mosandl, traffic officer in the local council, wants to continue fighting for Tempo 30 with the committee, but also believes that the citizens have more opportunities.
He referred to a noise report, according to which the limit values were exceeded in many buildings on the district road - during the day and at night.
"We have to be loud to enforce the legitimate concerns of local residents," he said.
A woman asked a question about the community buying a train station.
She wanted to know to what extent the Grafrather will be involved in the planning for future use.
Kennerknecht announced public participation - after the vote in the municipal council.