Pedestrian traffic: how are you? – Car & Mobile

The Paulusviertel in Halle an der Saale is what real estate connoisseurs call an attractive residential area. Not far from the center, popular mainly because of its beautifully restored buildings from the Wilhelminian era, criss-crossed by many small streets. But they are almost always parked on both sides of the road. In many places it is also allowed to park the car on the sidewalk. Most vehicles are therefore half on the lane and half on the footpath, and quite a few drivers have parked their vehicles on the path that is intended for pedestrians. Passers-by can hardly get through. There is no marking indicating how far you can park your car on the footpath. The legally prescribed minimum width, which allows pedestrians a passage of at least 1.80 meters wide, is often not adhered to – if rubbish bins are in the way, not at all.

“Sidewalk parking is very controversial,” says Bertram Weisshaar from the German Pedestrian Association (FUSS). “This takes place at the expense of those who do not have a car and whose space on the pavement is taken away. These households without their own car are in the majority in many streets in the Paulusviertel.” With the support of the Federal Environment Ministry, Weisshaars Verband is trying out in several model cities how to improve the conditions for pedestrians. Halle is one of these cities, but also in Neustrelitz, Coesfeld, Göttingen, Mainz, Erlangen and Frankfurt (Oder), projects under the motto “Building blocks for foot traffic strategies” have recently been running.

In Halle, for example, FUSS activists, together with representatives from administration and local politics, explored the current situation on a three-kilometer route through the northern old town – and then recommended specific improvements. The question was always: How can conditions for pedestrians be improved?

Hangers keep the cars away

Weisshaar presented a visible result at an intersection in the Paulusviertel. Workers have attached brackets to the corners so that cars can no longer be parked here. This makes the intersection more visible to pedestrians, and drivers are also more likely to recognize the crossing pedestrians. As if to prove it, a group of primary school students happened to be passing by during the on-site visit and was safely crossing the street. At the next intersection, however, these brackets are missing – the corners are parked up there, and the children have to meander through the narrow parking spaces, almost to the edge of the road, in order to be able to see whether a car is coming.

Weisshaar and his colleagues had made numerous other suggestions for the model route in Halle – a tour, however, shows that almost nothing was implemented. As before, many pedestrian traffic lights have very long red phases. When you exit the university clinic, the footpath and bike path are interrupted by the historical paving that is common on the clinic premises. The monument protection insists on preserving the paving, while the FUSS people demand that the sidewalk be marked more clearly. It can be observed that cars coming from the clinic premises often stop just before the road – and are little or no set for pedestrians crossing.

In many places the sidewalk is also not level, sometimes stones are loose or missing completely, often the city administration has only had damaged areas repaired – stumbling blocks not only for users of walkers. The parallel lanes for motor vehicles, however, are mostly in much better condition, criticizes Weisshaar. It is not uncommon for the sidewalk to be too narrow – if the four-lane road next to it were narrowed or parking spaces were eliminated, cyclists would benefit as well as pedestrians.

Often there are conflicts with cyclists

In many places, there are also conflicts between these two groups because the paths for cyclists and pedestrians – often due to a lack of space – are not clearly separated from each other. A fundamental problem in many cities that is being exacerbated by more and more e-scooters, pedelecs and cargo bikes. “Seniors in particular feel unsettled by cyclists,” says Weisshaar. In his opinion, significantly more checks are necessary – in the Paulusviertel, for example, many cars were parked completely on the sidewalk in the second row in the evening.

Halle still sees itself as a city that is committed to pedestrians. The city refers to the efforts made in recent years. In 2018, the city council decided that at least a quarter of the money for the repair of roads must be used for pedestrian traffic facilities. But in 2020, of the total of 3.3 million euros for the “maintenance of surface coverings”, 535,000 euros were spent on improving the sidewalks, significantly less than the planned 25 percent. In 2021, 430,000 euros flowed until September, primarily to eliminate accident sites on sidewalks.

And a look into the future also shows that these sums can usually only be used to repair the worst damage. When asked by the city council about the plans for 2022, the councilor responsible for urban development and the environment, René Rebenstorf, replied: “Repairs are being carried out as a result of the ongoing inspections by the road inspectors carried out, with which specific dangerous situations are eliminated. “

The FUSS people, however, are not discouraged by this. In autumn 2021, further model projects under the title “Let it go” started – including in Braunschweig, Erfurt, Flensburg, Meißen and Wiesbaden. Interested citizens should be more involved here. Until spring 2023, after training, they can examine the quality of the sidewalks in their neighborhoods, develop suggestions for improvement in workshops and then submit these to the responsible local politicians and the administration. “From Wiesbaden alone, 50 neighborhood walkers have applied to us,” reports Weisshaar.

Standers force pedestrians to slalom

In the inner city of Braunschweig, the volunteers have already identified various weak points during an initial inspection. In the historic Magniviertel, for example, many of the sidewalks are very narrow from their point of view, and the numerous displays in front of the shops ensure that pedestrians sometimes have to run slalom. That could be changed by giving up parking spaces in some streets and widening the sidewalks. However, it is not uncommon for the objection to such considerations that business people would protest against them for fear of losing their automobilized customers.

Many other examples can be found in Braunschweig – but also in other cities: For example, in the future, structurally extended sidewalks at intersections – called “sidewalk noses” by experts – could ensure that pedestrians get closer to the intersection area and can cross the streets more safely. More zebra stripes would also serve this goal, says Claudia Fricke, project coordinator at the city of Braunschweig. The aim is to increase foot traffic and “give it the meaning it needs,” says Fricke. In the meantime, the subject of pedestrian traffic has arrived in many city administrations, “significantly more resources are being made available,” praises pedestrian activist Weisshaar.

But a main conflict remains in many places: the abolition of parking spaces in favor of pedestrians. In Bremen, the residents of the Sunrise quarter in the eastern suburbs were recently questioned, 600 of the 3,000 households contacted answered. A year ago, the city reduced the number of parking spaces in the district by more than 100; Parking on sidewalks is no longer tolerated there either. Most of the respondents in the survey praised the better options for using the sidewalks and the options for safer crossing of streets. But when it comes to the question of what is particularly important to the residents, there are enough parking spaces before the footpaths are accessible. Only just under 20 households indicated that they have since left their cars. This is out of the question for the vast majority.

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