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Municipalities want to be able to decide for themselves where the 30 km/h speed limit applies
Photo: Michael Gstettenbauer / IMAGO
The »Livable Cities« initiative, co-founded by Augsburg, Ulm and Freiburg, for more 30 km/h in city centers is getting more supporters.
On average, one municipality joins the project every working day, reported an employee of the initiative in Leipzig.
The municipalities demand that they be free to decide for themselves which speeds are permitted in the places.
The road traffic regulations currently stipulate that 30 km/h can only be ordered in the event of specific hazards or in front of social facilities such as daycare centers and schools.
According to the initiative, this speed should be the rule in the future, although higher or lower restrictions should then be possible locally.
You can read here how the road traffic regulations are currently preventing sensible speed limits.
The »Livable Cities« initiative was launched by the three southern German cities as well as Aachen, Hanover, Leipzig and Münster.
It is now supported by 360 cities, municipalities and districts.
This year they also want to win the citizens over to the cause.
»Enormous noise reduction«
The initiative now represents a wide range of large cities such as Bielefeld, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe alongside much smaller municipalities such as Leonberg in Baden-Württemberg and Simbach am Inn in Bavaria.
In terms of party politics, too, the initiative covers almost the entire spectrum, many town hall heads of the cities involved come from the Union parties.
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According to the initiative, there is currently “hardly any willingness to deal seriously with our concerns” in the Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin.
Therefore, it is planned to go public in 2023 in addition to the work at the political level.
Most recently, the Federal Environment Agency had recommended “introducing a 30 km/h speed limit throughout Germany as the local standard speed”.
A study has shown that this would result in “enormous noise reductions” for the population.
Some air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter would also decrease slightly in the towns as a result.
koe/dpa
