Aubing’s citizens fear that they will suffocate in traffic in the long term. Only a few are optimistic that a traffic turnaround will succeed in their district. And hardly anyone sees the current range of local public transport as an attractive alternative to the car. Because even today, Bodenseestraße is regularly congested in the mornings and evenings, and the S-Bahn trains are overcrowded. At the same time, new development areas are springing up everywhere; up to 30,000 people will move to Freiham alone in the next ten to 15 years. The forecast is for the population to almost double by 2035 and for 80 percent more jobs.
The city of Munich wants to take countermeasures. Two years ago, the administration therefore presented a transport concept that citizens and local politicians had been asking for for a long time. The aim: to reduce journeys, which are currently still mainly made by car, which accounts for almost half of the total traffic volume in the district, and instead focus more on public transport and cycling. The Inovaplan planning office has worked out exactly how this should succeed.
On the one hand, there is the field of action of motor vehicle traffic. The experts recommend blocking Eichenauer Straße for car traffic in order to relieve the Aubinger town center, nationwide Tempo 30 and parking space management. Driving should become unattractive, not only through speed limits and parking fees, but possibly also through access restrictions and road tolls. Initially, a connection between Lochhausener Strasse and the Stuttgart autobahn (A8) was on the agenda, but this route is now off the table because of the route through a protected landscape area, as is an underpass between Altostrasse and Lochhausener Strasse.
The planning office Inovaplan recommends a ten-minute cycle for the S-Bahn lines S3, S4 and S8 in order to persuade drivers in the west of Munich to switch to public transport. However, only a 15-minute cycle is planned.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
For the second topic, local public transport, Inovaplan proposes a ten-minute cycle on the S3, S4 and S8 S-Bahn lines instead of the previously planned 15-minute cycle. In addition, the bus service should be expanded, according to the advice of the professionals, ideally with separate bus lanes. “With the S-Bahn lines, we actually have a very good connection to the city center, only the tangentials don’t work with local public transport,” explained Sascha Klein from Inovaplan to around 150 interested citizens at an information evening. Which is why he also suggests an “attractive” connection to Obermenzing. In general, Klein sums up, a “paradigm shift” is needed – nationwide car sharing, for example, instead of private car ownership. And a “system change” in the form of attractive offers on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn. On this evening, Klein did not address the fact that the U5 to Freiham will not be usable until 2035 at the earliest.
And the bike traffic? Six priority routes with safe infrastructure were defined across the city district, supplemented by side routes and a leisure network. A high-speed cycle connection to Fürstenfeldbruck is also planned.
But how fast does all this happen? “The development in Freiham can only continue when the public offers are there,” demanded district committee chief Sebastian Kriesel (CSU). And that includes the subway. “The development”, he emphasized to applause from the Aubinger, “must be needs-based”.
750 signatures against a car connection from the new district of Freiham to the village of Aubing have (from left) Andreas Schweinzer and Verena Hollstein handed over to City Planning Officer Elisabeth Merk and representatives of the Planning and Mobility Department.
(Photo: private)
Many Aubingers made it clear months ago that they do not want a connection for car traffic between Freiham and Aubing because this route attracts traffic. There were 450 comments during an online participation in the traffic concept, which was initially presented virtually in January 2022 – this point was the most frequently formulated, which some Aubingers have now underlined by handing over a list of 750 names to city planning officer Elisabeth Merk. “Aubing”, criticized activist Verena Hollstein at the information evening, “will not be able to cope with traffic, every small street will be closed”.
In second place is the demand for a denser bus network and a better clock. The express bus system and the cycle network are “doable”, explained Robert Adam from the mobility department at the information evening. And the city has already made advance payments for the subway with the terminal building in Freiham. But he personally does not think it is possible to ban the connection between Freiham and Aubing for individual traffic. “Every effort to build Freiham with as few cars as possible will not prevent people from using their vehicles.”
Two street variants, known as variants 6 and 7, are to be presented to the city council for decision in the autumn. Both are based on a new route that will lead from Eichenauer Strasse through a potential new housing estate with 1,000 apartments between the freeway and the outskirts of the city, directly into Germeringer Weg and Aubinger Allee in Freiham-Nord. After that, the mobility department wants to “close the sack” in terms of planning. From an administrative point of view, there is no longer any need for further citizen participation, as demanded by City Councilor Fritz Roth (FDP) at the information evening.