The regulation provides for 1.80 meter wide sidewalks. If it were enforced in Munich, more than 200 outdoor areas would be threatened.
More space for pedestrians on sidewalks, barrier-free intersections, safe construction sites: On Wednesday, the city council’s mobility committee launched its own traffic strategy for pedestrians. Now the administration should take care of where, how and when improvements are necessary and possible.
However, restaurateurs have to worry about whether they will still be able to put tables and chairs on the sidewalk in good weather in the future. Because the strategy expressly provides that the city implements the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And according to the law, sidewalks must have a passage width of at least 1.80 meters instead of the previous 1.60 meters. According to the mobility department, this remaining width is too small at 240 outdoor areas.
The district administration committee must decide on the specifications for the use of public areas. According to SPD city councilor Andreas Schuster, the implementation of the UN guidelines does not mean that outdoor areas are threatened. “Together with the disabled associations and the local catering trade, we must and will find solutions in each individual case.” For example, the open-air areas affected could expand more widely, as in the sidewalk cafés. Sometimes the right furniture could also help.
Where wider paths would make outdoor areas completely impossible, the interests of gastronomy and pedestrians must be “balanced”, says Gudrun Lux (Greens), “for example by widening the entire sidewalk or enabling sidewalk cafés over a longer period of time year”.
However, the CSU and Free Voters see the existence of numerous hosts threatened. If they had to buy narrower furniture, that would entail high costs. “The loss of hundreds of outdoor areas is by no means acceptable to us,” says Veronika Mirlach, spokeswoman for mobility policy for the CSU parliamentary group. Each individual case must be examined and a balance between all interests must be found in the city council. The debate continues.