One-way street: "Nothing halves and nothing whole"

Created: 01/13/2022, 06:34 AM

From: Stefanie Zipfer

Drivers have to get used to the ghost buses in the old town.

The city council decided that the route of the buses will not be changed.

have © Norbert H Farewell

One-way regulation in the old town of Dachau: The trial phase is running.

There are still supporters and critics who say: "Nothing halves and nothing whole."

Dachau

- As long as the buses are allowed to drive through the old town in both directions, the one-way street that was set up in autumn is actually not a real one-way street.

The city councils agree on this.

But what would the solution be?

A new regulation of the bus routes?

The return to the earlier encounter traffic?

A pedestrian zone?

Since autumn there has been a one-way street in the old town running from Ludwig-Thoma- to Brucker Straße. As reported, not all residents are enthusiastic about it, there are signature lists and a lawsuit against the regulation. But there are also proponents who are happy about the traffic calming. In a conversation with the local newspaper, Lord Mayor Florian Hartmann recently emphasized that he would be dispassionate about the topic and wait for the end of the one-year trial period in order to finally form an opinion on whether and, if so, how traffic should flow through Dachau's good room in the future.

Nevertheless, on Tuesday the Environment and Transport Committee of the City Council was again passionate about the one-way street issue.

The reason for the discussion was the question of how real a one-way street is when the city buses from lines 719, 720 and 722 meet there every minute?

For the CSU city councilors, the answer was clear: “This is not a real one-way street, that makes no sense!” According to spokesman Peter Strauch, you now have “the same as before, except that the cars only go in one direction”.

An attractive old town with a pleasant atmosphere, with more open spaces and real traffic calming therefore only works if you stop the encountering traffic of the buses.

Peter Gampenrieder (ÜB) was of a similar opinion.

The current situation is "nothing halves and nothing whole".

But what makes the old town so attractive? Are they really just nice pub gardens and quiet bench seats? No, said traffic officer Volker C. Koch (SPD): “It is also attractive that people come directly to the old town!” Mayor Florian Hartmann therefore warned against “rushing shots”; Allowing the buses to only go in one direction is “not a good practice for the old town”.

Koch and Hartmann were able to prove this with figures. The Munich engineering firm Gevas had carried out a study on behalf of the Stadtwerke, which was supposed to examine the extent to which the bus system of the ring lines could also be run in a one-way direction through the old town. The result of the test was: The travel times of the passengers would be extended, depending on the variant of the stop relocation - whereby the stops in the old town had recently been upgraded to be handicapped accessible for expensive money - the passengers would have to change or walk; and it would also be expensive for the municipal utilities, as they would need an additional bus and additional drivers. Gevas representative Erik Meder summed it up as follows: If the goal of the city is to make local transport more attractive,then "the one-way regulation for buses would counteract this goal".

Because even if the demand for the buses on line 719 has recently decreased by 25 percent due to Corona, he sees "potential" in lines 720/722, according to Meder.

Even now, 46 percent of all city bus users would use the 719, 720 and 722 lines to drive into the old town on weekdays.

Two thirds of them would use the 719 line, a third the 720/722.

"After coping with the effects of the pandemic, passenger demand on line 719 should again reach at least levels of 2018," said Meder.

In the case of lines 720/722, due to the introduction of the ten-minute cycle, “at least 50 percent higher passenger numbers can be assumed”.

The police draw a positive balance

The one-way street regulation through the old town introduced in October is much discussed - and is closely monitored by the police.

Yesterday, the Dachau PI published this 100-day balance sheet:

- The number of wrong-way drivers decreased significantly after a short time.

- For heavy traffic that was previously directed from Konrad-Adenauer- in the direction of Augsburger Strasse in one direction, it is now easier to recognize the one-way regulation.

- Obstacles caused by delivery traffic have been reduced, as parked delivery vehicles can now be avoided more easily.

- The through traffic on the Augsburger Strasse side via Karlsberg to Münchner Strasse no longer exists.

This leads to a significant reduction in traffic and noise in the old town area.

- The children's way to school is now safer: the Zollhäuschen / Karlsberg danger zone has been defused, and all other crossings are significantly less dangerous.

- Bicycle traffic is exempt from the one-way rule and now has more space.

Cyclists and their safety benefit from the one-way rule.

- The situation has also improved when entering and exiting a parking space.

The parking person can concentrate better, as he usually only has to pay attention to one flow of traffic.

- The introduction of the one-way regulation has made it much easier for pedestrians to cross the lane and thus significantly increased their safety.

- In the area of ​​the one-way street between Konrad-Adenauer- and Augsburger Strasse, there were a total of ten accidents between October 1, 2020 and January 5, 2021 - as many as in the same period a year later.

Given that the city was in lockdown in December 2020, the unchanged number of accidents means an improvement, as accidents did not increase in 2021 despite more traffic.

- Conclusion: The police welcomed the introduction of the one-way regulation as part of the trial run.

The aspects of "safety" and "ease of traffic" have already benefited!

Thomas Kreß (Greens), like Koch and Hartmann, therefore advocated maintaining the current bus route management.

“We want to get people out of the car and onto the bus”, but we should “not reduce” the attractiveness of local public transport.

Michael Eisenmann (Alliance for Dachau) also called the current bus system “perfect for Dachau”.

In the medium to long term, the alliance wants a pedestrian zone in the old town anyway, and for that “good public transport is necessary”!

But even a pedestrian zone should not function without a connection to bus traffic, announced Mayor Hartmann.

The streets of the old town are “designed for horse-drawn carts and stagecoaches”, but due to the “hillside location and topography”, good accessibility is important, especially for people with reduced mobility.

In the end, the committee voted against the votes of the CSU in favor of maintaining the current rules.

At the end of the day, Peter Gampenrieder gave his colleagues a brain teaser: “Basically, we just have to think about whether the old town should still be accessible by car in the future.

Or whether we focus entirely on the quality of stay. ”Now, and nobody contradicted it,“ the condition is simply extremely unsatisfactory ”.