The Berlin Senate has imposed driving bans on eight streets. These should apply from the beginning of September at the latest for diesel cars and trucks up to and including the Euro 5 emissions standard. Exceptions are there among others for residents, delivery services and craftsmen, as traffic Senator Regine Günther (non-party) announced. In addition, the air pollution control plan of the capital provides for the expansion of the Tempo 30 zones.
In Berlin, the air in many places still contains too much nitrogen dioxide. Last year, the burden had fallen to 46 micrograms per cubic meter in the annual average, the administration had communicated. However, it was still above the permissible EU limit of 40 micrograms. In 2017 it was 51, in 2016 52 micrograms. The Berlin administrative court had already demanded driving bans in October 2018.
Driving bans imposed on eight roads
The following streets are specifically affected in Berlin:
- Leipziger Straße (from Leipziger Platz, east side, to Charlottenstraße)
- Brückenstraße (from Köpenicker Straße to Holzmarktstraße)
- Reinhardtstraße (from Charitéstraße to Kapelle-Ufer) •
- Old Moabit (from Gotzkowskystraße to Beusselstraße)
- Friedrichstraße (from Unter den Linden to Dorotheenstraße)
- Stromstraße (from Bugenhagenstraße to Turmstraße)
- Hermannstraße (from Silbersteinstraße to Emser Straße)
- Silbersteinstraße (from Hermannstraße to Karl-Marx-Straße)
The length of the affected routes is 2.9 kilometers in total. Tempo 30 is also placed on the sections.
The pollution with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in cities derives to a large extent from diesel exhaust gases. Driving bans on older diesels already exist in several German cities, including Stuttgart, Darmstadt and Hamburg. The German environmental aid (DUH) had forced the blockages in court, there are still more procedures.
Expansion of Tempo 30 zones
Berlin plans to expand Tempo-30 zones on a further 59 sections with a length of about 21 kilometers. In addition, scheduled buses and municipal vehicles are to be retrofitted with emission control systems and fleets renewed. In addition, the city state wants to expand areas where parking is chargeable.
Following the Senate's decision, a two-week hearing period will follow for police and districts, a senate spokeswoman said. Then the districts put up the signs for the drive-through bans and the new Tempo 30 areas.
The police see the decision of the Berlin Senate critical. "The personnel body of the Berlin police never make it in their lives that we keep all prohibition zones permanently in view," says Benjamin Jendro, spokesman for the Berlin State District of the Union of Police (GdP) opposite the Berliner Morgenpost. An enforcement of the driving bans could therefore not go beyond random checks. "We also do not think it's an advantage to constantly stop vehicles to minimize CO2 emissions," Jendro continued.
The employers' associations Berlin-Brandenburg criticized the Senate resolution. The diesel bans were "disproportionate", since the nitrogen oxide limits would be almost everywhere exceeded only slightly, explained Association Managing Director Sven Weickert.
The FDP in the Berlin House of Representatives called on the Senate, on the routes with diesel driving bans set up measuring stations in order to pursue the improvement of air quality and to lift the blockages as quickly as possible.
