Many people only know the term “Pippinger Flur” as the name of a rest stop on the A8. The rest area allows you to make the last stop before you pass the first houses in Munich shortly after the roundabout on Verdistraße in Obermenzing. What is less well known: The service area is named after the area in which it is located – a spacious green and open space between Bergsonstraße, An der Langwieder Haide street, Mühlangerstraße and the A8. An area that makes up around a quarter of the area of Obermenzing.
For the Obermenzing district representatives, this Pippinger Flur may be the answer to many unsolved problems. And the Pasing-Obermenzing district committee doesn’t want to wait until project developers show up at its door. The politicians are now going on the offensive themselves; a special meeting together with the Aubinger neighbors was the start of a collection of ideas.
Many clubs urgently need open space and hall capacity. The district committee therefore wants to examine what opportunities there are to build a sports campus with a large gymnasium and various free play areas for club and leisure sports in the Pippinger Flur area. “The idea came up during the discussion about the strawberry meadow, in which a sports club is also involved,” explains BA boss Frieder Vogelsgesang (CSU). According to the sports department, there are already “27 sports hall units” in triple, double and single halls in the district, and a further eleven are to be added in the next few years. But on the one hand, these halls are affiliated with schools and are therefore only available for popular sports outside of school hours. On the other hand, according to the authority, the three district and leisure sports facilities in the district are “fully utilized”.
In contrast to residential construction, outdoor sports areas on the Pippinger Flur would also have the advantage of not sealing the area. The Pippinger Flur, explained Florian Nowak from the city’s climate and environmental protection department, is not a special fresh air corridor. “But the area, as a large open area, produces cold air and also allows this cold air to be transported into the city.”
Some time ago, the municipal utilities had examined possible locations for depots in coordination with the planning department, including one in Pippinger Flur. Result: There are “significant concerns about this place from the perspective of landscape planning, nature conservation and urban development planning”. Which is why he is not being pursued any further.
A second idea that Pasing’s citizens’ representatives want to see examined is the relocation of the motorway roundabout from the end of the A8 to Mühlangerstrasse. At least in the form of a semi-connection. This is intended to relieve congestion on the residential streets in Obermenzing, whose residents have been complaining about noise for years, and on Pippinger Straße in the village center. From the perspective of the city planning department, such a solution would also offer “fundamental potential for open space and settlement development in this area”.
However, Robert Adam from the mobility department pointed out at the special meeting that relocating a motorway roundabout was “anything but trivial”. Such a project costs “a lot of money” and also carries the risk of just shifting traffic – in this case towards Allach. Which is why Allach-Untermenzing’s local politicians “vehemently reject” the proposal from Pasing. Traffic should be distributed, argues the chairman of the district committee, Pascal Fuckerieder (SPD). And Von-Kahrstrasse and Allacher Strasse are already heavily polluted.
Point number three from Pasinger’s point of view on the topic of Pippinger Flur is a demand that local politicians have already expressed repeatedly: They want a park-and-ride facility at the current end of the motorway in order to encourage commuters to switch to local public transport. But for such a system to be worthwhile, according to Robert Adam, a subway connection would also be necessary. “We have park-and-ride facilities at the Allianz Arena and at the trade fair in Riem, but even those are only used to capacity during football games or trade fairs. You would need something that runs on more than just a few days a year. Otherwise it’s not worth it.” According to the citizens’ representatives, the “best idea” would be an extension of the U3 from Moosach to Pasing. Even if, according to Adam, this variant is “really, very far away in perspective.”
No matter how much resistance the politicians may face, they are not giving up and now want to convey their ideas to their colleagues in the city council. Then a collection of ideas could become concrete planning.