How envious some Grünwalders squint at the neighboring towns when it comes to inner-city traffic: 30 km/h on all roads, with the exception of the state through routes – that’s what many in the Munich millionaire suburb want. But what has worked in Oberhaching and Unterhaching for many years is not possible in Grünwald. In the town hall, reference is always made to the road traffic regulations, which allegedly do not allow drivers to slow down. In the municipal council meeting on Tuesday evening, however, it became clear that there was something completely different behind the negative attitude: it was the Grünwalder’s big cars.
At least that’s what CSU local councilor Thomas Lindbüchl made clear after a good hour-long debate about dangerous situations, collecting roads, sensitive residential areas and the legal basis. “People drive 50 in the 30 zones anyway,” he says. And he also knows why: In Grünwald, many people have large cars. If you step on the gas, you’re already at 50. “You can’t drive 30 with these cars.” That ended the discussion. Only four out of 31 councilors wanted the speed limit anyway.
The reason for the debate was that in the most recent citizens’ meeting, as every year, the application had been made to finally order a 30 km/h speed limit across the whole of Grünwald. There has been such a limit on the residential streets and in some other places, such as in front of the elementary school, for traffic safety on school routes or at the amusement park, since 2008. Since then, the town hall administration has been convinced that nothing more is possible. But not everyone in Grünwald wants to be satisfied with that.
“We’ve been dealing with the topic for over 20 years now, it’s a burning concern for the citizenry, because there are still many applications for it,” said Achim Zeppenfeld (SPD), suggesting that we look again at what we can do . According to Zeppenfeld, the best thing to do would be to hire the same planning office as back then to get an up-to-date assessment of the situation. However, he did not find enough comrades-in-arms.
The majority of the committee finds the argumentation of the town hall administration plausible: Where there are no dangers, there is no need for a speed limit. The Grünwald police inspection checks this at regular intervals. In the town hall, reference is made to paragraph 45 of the road traffic regulations, which only allow 30 km/h on roads with less traffic. The fact that the German Association of Cities has just made a new initiative on the subject of 30 km/h in cities and municipalities and in a resolution calls for the adjustment of traffic law so that municipalities can decide for themselves in future where a speed limit would make sense is of little interest in Grünwald. “Something will change,” Angela Zahn (FDP) is convinced, but her objection was lost in the large circle of the municipal council table.
So they continue to insist on Tempo 50 on so-called collecting roads, whereby the administration admitted that this term was “not legally established”. But, according to Robert Zettel from the CSU, these collecting roads have existed since the “original planning of Grünwald in the 1920s” so that traffic does not look for another route. Otherwise you get him in areas that have not been polluted so far. “If people get out of there when they’re 30, it won’t work,” he is convinced. Even Tempo 40 as in Pullach is not an option for the Grünwalder. Because, as the town hall administration says: “It doesn’t exist in the case law, what Pullach is doing is illegal.”