As of: February 28, 2024, 8:00 a.m
By: Andrea Beschorner
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There was great interest: Max-Josef Kirchmaier, the head of Aktive City Freising, invited everyone affected by the pedestrian zone to an open dialogue.
© Lehmann
Many new insights emerged at the end of an evening that Aktive City Freising had asked for: the first platform for everyone affected by the pedestrian zone to talk about their concerns.
Freising
– craftsmen, pharmacists, doctors, business people, restaurateurs, some city councilors and residents: There was great interest in the event organized by Active City Freising around Max-Josef Kirchmaier in the Parkcafé.
A good 70 people accepted the invitation on Monday to engage in an open dialogue about what is in store for the city center.
Everyone emphasized how much they appreciated that Kirchmaier organized the evening.
Many said that they felt unseen by the city and left alone with their worries.
And there are plenty of worries, and this also became clear: after this evening, the fact that the realization of a large pedestrian zone could even threaten the existence of some people can no longer be dismissed.
The current state
The Active City boss first highlighted the current situation.
The city center concept was very successful and was very well received.
Deserted summer nights in Freising's parlor have been a thing of the past since the Moosach opened.
The impending completion of the Asam cultural temple, the Domberg elevator, the Dimu: all of this contributes to a lively city center.
Looks like a pedestrian zone - but it's not.
The encounter zone causes problems.
© Lehmann
And then we got down to business thematically: the traffic concept.
In December 2023, the city implemented “what was worked out with a lot of pain and love down to the smallest detail according to a resolution from 2014,” said Kirchmaier: the small version of the pedestrian zone from Schiedereck to District Court Lane.
The advantages are noticeable: “Traffic has decreased massively, there are hardly any show trips or shortcuts anymore.”
The big solution
And yet: Reckless cyclists, cars parked in the meeting zone and a police force that is hardly or not visible in the city center has now led to some factions (Greens, Left, ÖDP) rejecting the application for a complete pedestrian zone from the Karlwirtskreuzung to to Heiliggeistgasse, said Kirchmaier.
Affected: 285 retail stores, 72 companies and 125 medical practices.
In addition, there are countless private apartments, 90 percent of which can only be accessed via the pedestrian zone.
“It is therefore clear that it is an illusion to have a completely traffic-free pedestrian zone.”
The worries
District master craftsman Martin Reiter reported on emails and calls that he has received every day since the pedestrian zone was set up.
Of course, craft businesses would need their vehicles directly in front of the construction site all day long and would not be able to transport their heavy material into the city center on foot or by bike.
The craftsman's license is of no use if you are only allowed to drive in during delivery times.
In the event of water damage, the prescribed travel times would not be adhered to.
Reiter reported about craftsmen who work on the Asam building and who have now paid 500 euros in fines.
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Doctors and therapists
Some doctors and pharmacists spoke up.
Pharmacies have a legal mandate that they have to fulfill - “and that will not be possible given the delivery times”.
According to the tenor, doctors and physiotherapists cannot only treat patients with walking difficulties in the pedestrian zone during official delivery times.
That is logistically impossible.
In addition, according to one speaker, “it’s not just pensioners who take pensioners to the doctor.
There is absolutely no longer any flexibility for working people.”
Difficult to supply
A shop owner who receives daily deliveries from various parcel services complained that they often couldn't make it by 10:30 a.m.
“And what do the shops that don’t open until 11 a.m. do?” Customers would also think carefully about whether they “buy a grill or a food processor in the city center and drag it to the parking lot” - or whether they would prefer to order conveniently online.
It doesn't look like a pedestrian zone - but it is one.
Visually, a lot still has to happen here.
© Lehmann
The owner of several kebab shops in the city center complained that if her supplier gets stuck in a traffic jam, there is no solution.
“If our suppliers don’t make it by 10:30 a.m., they can’t wait until 6 p.m. – but they won’t carry the heavy kebab skewers across the city center either.” Several long-standing suppliers dropped out during the construction phase.
A problem that affects all businesses.
Andreas Muschler said that if doctors' practices leave the city center, it will have a massive impact on shops and restaurants: then a large proportion of customers would disappear.
Hard to reach
Anyone who calls the public order office is told: “Complain to the city councilors, they screwed up.”
There was no flexibility - “most of the time no one answers the phone,” as several people present reported.
And then the questions piled up: “Why don’t you give the small pedestrian zone a chance before you vote on the big one?” “Why doesn’t the city ask those it affects?” “Why is it always said in other cities “Is it possible even though we don’t have a parallel street for delivery traffic and are therefore not comparable?”
The citizen representatives
Planning officer Hans Hölzl (FSM) said that his group is against a large pedestrian zone and wants to give the small solution a chance first, which is why they have submitted a council request: the citizens should decide.
Maria Lintl (also FSM) added that the problems are so complex that one has to ask whether a council request is the right instrument for decision-making.
Economics officer Teresa Degelmann (SPD) reported on her group's request to refer the issue back to the planning committee in order to give all problems enough space.
Sebastian Habermeyer (Greens) explained that the call for a major solution was loud “because it obviously doesn't work that way” and waiting won't help.
Jens Barschdorf (FDP) advocated taking time to reasonably enforce the status quo.
Because: “The problems now will not disappear with a large pedestrian zone.”
Rudi Schwaiger specifically addressed the accusation that the meeting zone was “a lawless space” because it was built at the same level, which is why the police would not check there: “The police don’t check because they don’t want to – and not because they’re not allowed to.” The aim of this zone, which extends from the two city gates to the pedestrian zone, is for everyone to be considerate of one another.
“If that worked, we wouldn’t have to talk about exemptions.” Now we have to find compromises.
Because those who keep the city center running would have little interest in a major solution.
At the end, one listener took a stand for the current situation: “The way it is now, it's beautiful and largely works.
It is a condition that everyone can live with.
The big solution could mean the end for many.” That’s what all the decision-makers took away from the evening.