It was a few years ago, but the rule used to apply on the B 304 from Haar to the state capital: If you catch the first traffic light green and then consistently comply with the speed limit, you are riding the green wave. This rule of thumb no longer applies; the enormous increase in traffic in the east of Munich meanwhile makes unnerved commuters dream of the flowing traffic at every red intersection. From this point of view, it is completely irrelevant whether the speed limit on the main road in Haar is still 60 or whether the limit is throttled to 50 kilometers per hour.
The B 304 in the municipality of Haar is a relic from the days when the car had absolute priority and traffic planning was subordinated to the mantra of the traffic-friendly city – the traffic, according to the idea at the time, must always flow. However, the traffic of the future must now be thought of in a completely different way; the focus can no longer be on the road, on the car, on individual traffic. And the B 304 in Haar is an example of what could and should change in the district of Munich – and what would also be possible.
The six-lane federal highway is more than predestined for the construction of an urgently needed tram, car traffic can and must be given space here to encourage people to change. The interface between the B 304 and the A 99 is ideal for picking up commuters here with local public transport. On this east-west axis, the bicycle infrastructure must be expanded with high-speed bicycle connections that reach far into the surrounding area. The potential is enormous, it just has to be used as quickly as possible.
Incidentally, this applies to all important traffic axes that connect the district with the state capital – for example on the A 8 in the south-east or on the A 9 and B 471 in the north. Wherever the car still dominates and people are stuck in traffic jams, the conditions for a real turnaround must be created. For a real green wave.