The answer to the €4000 question on a popular TV game show is usually a manageable hurdle. The possible elimination of one of the most tedious annoyances in the traffic of Vaterstetten has now failed because of a 4000 euro question – to be precise, it was only the 3272 euro and 50 cent question. The municipality should have invested so much in an additional traffic study for the maypole crossing on Dorfstraße, but the majority in the building and road committee rejected this.
The connection between Dorfstrasse and Fasanenstrasse on the one hand and Carl-Orff-Strasse on the other hand has been the cause of many a complaint for years. This was also heard at the citizens’ meeting last autumn, which was initially joined by all factions of the Vaterstetten municipal council. At that time, the responsible committee unanimously voted for the administration to get in touch with the district office – Dorfstraße is a district road – and to examine which measures for more traffic safety at the intersection could be implemented. There were also suggestions as to what that could be: One should investigate whether a roundabout would make sense or whether a traffic light would be better.
The place is too safe for the authorities
Nothing at all is best, but that was the opinion of three of the five parliamentary groups: CSU, FDP and Free Voters voted in the end not to carry out any conversions at the intersection and therefore not to commission any further investigations. The administration had brought a video analysis of the intersection into play, which would cost 6545 euros, half of which would be paid by the district.
Why the conservatives in the committee voted against such an investigation – and thus for the end of possible conversions at the crossing – they justified with the investigations already carried out. In February, for example, the municipality had already carried out a 24-hour speed measurement around the intersection, with the result that 85 percent of the cars on the village street not only adhere to the speed limit of 50, but also undercut it by a good five kilometers per hour.
The amount of traffic on a working day was also examined. At that time, 7,280 cars were on the road within 24 hours, but not evenly distributed over the day. The busiest time was around 4 p.m. in the afternoon, with around ten cars per minute on Dorfstrasse and three on Fasanenstrasse. According to the administration, this is a significantly increased traffic volume, but according to the traffic authority in the Ebersberg district office, it is not higher than the values of other district roads in the northern district.
The municipality would have to pay for the conversion itself
As far as the danger of the crossing is concerned, the higher authorities see no need for action. The Rosenheim State Building Authority renewed its assessment that this was not a hotspot for accidents, and the police also came to the same conclusion. Which means that – if you answer yes to the 3,272-euro and 50-cent question – the panel could soon be faced with a question of 400,000 or even 1.2 million euros. Because that’s how much the traffic light or the roundabout would cost and according to the statement, the district will use its “annual limited financial quota” to expand “significantly more accident-prone junctions” – which means that if Vaterstetten would like a conversion, it would have to be paid for from the municipal treasury.
The proposed traffic study would not change that either, Stefan Huber suspected, in the end one is faced with the question: “Do we leave it or do we expand it anyway?” Theresa Fauth said “the video thing” doesn’t necessarily need it and Manfred Vodermair (all CSU) referred to the assessment of the specialist authorities that further investigation would change little. Renate Will (FDP) shared this view, instead of committing yourself to this one position, it would be better to use the money for a possible expansion elsewhere. Finding out which ones that could be would be a task for the mobility manager, who the municipality wants to hire this year. “We can save ourselves the expert report,” said third mayor Roland Meier (FW), since little will come out of it than in previous investigations. In any case, the intersection is most dangerous when there are hardly any cars on the road – “when there is a lot going on, everyone is careful”.
Maybe the topic will come up again soon
“I still think the intersection is dangerous,” said Stefan Ruoff (Greens), especially for cyclists. On the one hand, the spot is confusing, on the other hand, you have to pedal quite a bit to get between the many cars on the village street. “I’m not a gyroscope fan, but I would support a traffic light.” Josef Mittermeier (SPD) also criticized the complexity of the intersection, saying that it was “not built for the volume of traffic that we have”. Maybe there is no need for a roundabout or another traffic light. He suggested “take away a few turning lanes so that it becomes clearer”.
At least in the near future, nothing will come of it, against the votes of the Greens and SPD, the additional traffic study was rejected and a conversion of the intersection with it. But maybe it will be on the agenda again in a few months – the next Vaterstetten town hall meeting is on the calendar for October 13th.