Tempo 30: Citizens for traffic calming – majorities hardly to be found
A comprehensive 30 km/h speed limit on Innsbruck’s streets is the declared goal of the mayor and the city councilor for transport. The citizen participation process has shown that the population IS in favor of it. There is probably no political majority for implementation. was invited just before the last meeting of the working group to inform about further steps.
INNSBRUCK. The nationwide 30 km/h speed limit on Innsbruck’s streets, with the exception of through streets, divides the municipal council like no other issue. The most recent municipal council meeting, with the discussion about 30 km/h on Speckweg, showed that the political fronts have hardened. The population sees the issue differently. The citizen participation process that has occurred in several Innsbruck district centers in recent months has shown this. “Traffic is a topic that is always discussed emotionally. It was a good experience to discuss this topic together in one room, and also to argue, such as at the event in Dreiheiligen. However, the tendency at events was clearly such that people Tempo 30 want, “explains Paul Klumpner, coordinator of the district work of the Innsbruck social services. Outside of the district centers, the numbers are clear, says Transport Councilor Uschi Schwarzl, who, together with Mayor Georg Willi, invited to the information session before the last meeting of the working group.
The working group
As Willi explains, “the majority in the municipal council voted in favor of Tempo 30 as the preferred speed, with the exception of state roads and “through roads” to be defined by the working group.” While the FPÖ and ÖVP refrained from getting involved in the working group from the outset, “Für Innsbruck” no longer appeared at the meetings of the working group either. “SPÖ, ALi, NEOS, List Fritz and the Greens are still working on presenting a result by the end of the year. Innsbruck is not the first city. Graz has had a speed limit of 30 for a long time. It is an investment in less noise, in a new transport culture, in more safety and also a question of distributive justice as far as space is concerned,” explains Schwarzl, who was distrusted by a majority of the plenum at the most recent municipal council meeting.
Implementation will be difficult
As the city councilor for transport further reports, there is a reliable, cross-party interest among all Innsbruck residents in the nationwide introduction of the 30s in Innsbruck: “We have already submitted a lower application that we carried out surveys last year that show that 80 76 percent of NEOS voters, 71 percent of SPÖ voters, even 65 percent of FPÖ voters and 57 percent of ÖVP voters are in favor of 30 km/h, but there could be a majority in the municipal council,” said Schwarzl. A little less The mayor himself is optimistic: “In my estimation, it will certainly be difficult. 30 makes sense. The question is whether the people who vote against 30 km/h on the said path will participate in a nationwide 30. In the end, they have to die, who reject the 30s ask which side they are on”. Mayor back to the citizens’ events. In any case, what has been worked out so far can also be implemented after the elections in the coming year.
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