“This is now the point at which we can start with the first engineering plans for the bypasses,” said Christian Bauer (CSU). In the city council meeting on Tuesday, the mayor was able to anticipate the unanimous decision that was to follow a little later. Bauer did not have to fear any objections from the committee, which for decades has actually only been concerned with how to calm down the market place.
Not least because the head of the building authority, Josef Niedermaier, once again assured: The present plan is pretty much the only way to finally design “Grafining’s living room” the way the city wants it, “to calm traffic and finally make it passable and usable for to make cyclists and pedestrians”.
The plan, to which Niedermaier then referred, came from the traffic planners from the Munich Obermeyer Group. He envisages these three bypasses for the marketplace. Initially in the form of expanding Gartenstraße with a breakthrough to Bahnhofstraße. Then the extension of Oberanger to the north with a junction with Ebersberger Straße. This road heads west to Grafing train station. And finally the Aiblinger Spange, which branches off from state road 2089 at about the level of the soft ring and is intended to create a direct connection to Glonner Straße.
The plan is still subject to some uncertainties
So far, almost all streets on the Grafinger Marktplatz are declared as state or district streets. With the bypasses, Grafing can specifically enter into negotiations with the Free State and district to downgrade these remaining roads to local roads. “If the local traffic drives through the bypasses and demonstrably no longer gets past the market square, the prerequisites for this are met,” explained Niedermaier. Important for the background: Grafing has a right that the streets would actually be downgraded. “Then there is no more discretion from above.”
Nevertheless, the project should keep the city council busy for quite a while. CSU city councilor Elli Huber wanted to know from Niedermaier whether he could make a rough forecast regarding the implementation period. He first made big eyes – and then shook his head. “It just depends on too many factors.” In Gartenstrasse and Oberanger, the necessary plots are already owned by the city. “It looks different on Aiblinger Strasse, we still have a lot of work to do.”
However, there is also uncertainty in the timeline at Oberanger: Apparently, the railway wants to modernize the Jahnstraße crossing and possibly move something. The Oberanger extension would also be affected. Only when the plans for the railway have been finalized can Grafing begin the detailed planning of this second bypass. “Perseverance, infinite patience and the ability to suffer” – that’s simply necessary for any traffic planning, Niedermaier joked.
During the meeting, he referred to another central point: A noticeable reduction in traffic for the market place will already be achieved with the commissioning of the first bypass. According to the current status, with the expanded garden road. By the year 2035, the traffic report on the marketplace predicts an increase in motor vehicle traffic of 20 percent. Simply because the traffic on the road is generally increasing. A first opened bypass could equalize some of this again.