Chaos in Grünwald's congested eye of the needle: call for help to the Minister of the Interior

Created: 01/26/2022, 05:30

By: Marc Write

View of the market square: Emil-Geis-Strasse in Grünwald does not make it easy for road users.

Pedestrians in particular have to be quick if they don't want to take a detour through the traffic lights.

©Oliver Schmidt

Emil-Geis-Strasse is Grünwald's congested bottleneck and, according to local councilor Oliver Schmidt (PBG), almost overflows in the summer months.

Chaotic situations arise between cyclists, pedestrians and drivers.

Schmidt has therefore now written a letter to the Minister of the Interior.

Grünwald

- For Oliver Schmidt, the situation on Emil-Geis-Strasse is not structured enough.

He sees the traffic situation as a danger, especially for pedestrians and cyclists.

For this reason, he sent a letter to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior asking for a remedy.

He suggested setting up another crossing with a traffic light at about the corner of Dr.-Max-/Emil-Geis-Straße.

This allows turning traffic to be regulated.

He also considers signage on the sidewalk of Emil-Geis-Strasse to be necessary.

The best way is with the help of specialist planners and traffic experts.

The community would certainly support this financially.

The Minister of the Interior's reply

In the meantime, the Grünwald local politician has received a detailed answer personally from Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.

He thanked them for their commitment, but all in all gave a negative answer.

For a crossing, the necessary distance to the closely following property exits is missing.

With a view to the high traffic load, the regulation “Footpath – bike traffic free” has already been ordered.

Cyclists have to drive at walking speed on the special routes so that accidents do not occur.

Separate guidance for cyclists and pedestrians?

Not possible due to lack of space.

For the same reason, a traffic light is out of the question.

According to the Freising State Building Authority, there should be no junctions or exits over a length of seven meters.

A coordination of the two traffic lights in the direction of the Isar is impossible, since all the branches on the market square are heavily loaded - both by the inflow from the M 11 and by the turn from the Südliche Münchner- and Tölzer Straße.

The municipality of Grünwald registers backwaters along Emil-Geis-Strasse, and according to their assessment, the performance of the crossing should not be impaired.

Few traffic accidents

The Ministry of the Interior also sees no need for action from a police point of view, as only very few traffic accidents have occurred in the past.

In none of them were cyclists and pedestrians involved at the same time.

The situation on site, as the minister pointed out, had been examined very closely - with the result: "Neither traffic lights nor regulation of bicycle traffic is necessary."

The answer does not satisfy Oliver Schmidt.

However, he doesn't want to give up completely just yet.

For example, he can imagine having a note printed on the pavement along the lines of: "Please be considerate of one another." He would also welcome colored markings for cyclists on the sidewalk or colored panels and on municipal land.

He intends to raise the issue again with the City Council when the opportunity arises.