It is well known that the larger community sometimes has a hard time when it comes to its center. For once, the current difficulties with the center have nothing to do with the reconstruction of the square in front of the town hall, they exist a few hundred meters further north. There, at the intersection by the maypole, was the center of the village in the past, when Vaterstetten was still a small village. The street is still called Dorfstraße to this day. Now that Vaterstetten is a large community, there is a problem there.
In 2009 there were new traffic islands
This has been complained about in Vaterstetten for some time, and the community wants more safety for cyclists and pedestrians. But the Dorfstraße is also the district road EBE 17, which is why all renovations must be coordinated with the district. In the decade before last, there was the last successful attempt to make the intersection between Dorf-, Fasanen- and Carl-Orff-Straße safer: It was in 2009, when the district and municipality agreed on the installation of additional traffic islands.
Which is not enough for many in Vaterstetten. Ten years later, a citizen asked the district office whether the intersection could either be provided with a traffic light or converted into a roundabout. Because in the current state, the intersection is dangerous for all road users due to the confusing entrance, and accidents have already occurred. The district office, however, did not classify the street as dangerous enough. An on-site meeting in June 2020 with representatives from the police, the state building authority and the road traffic authority of the district office showed that the intersection was not a focus of accidents.
The political groups are quite clear in their motion
At the citizens’ meeting last month, however, there was a contradiction – which the parliamentary groups in the Vaterstetten municipal council apparently share. Because in the current building and road committee, a joint application by the CSU, Greens, SPD, Free Voters and FDP was on the agenda, in which the citizen’s request made in 2009 is taken up and expanded. The municipal building authority is supposed to get in contact with the district administration office in order to examine various measures at the intersection. On the one hand, whether and how a conversion to a roundabout can increase safety, especially for non-motorized road users, and which type of roundabout might be best suited at that point. But other options, such as the traffic light, should also be examined.
In their justification, the parliamentary groups are very clear: “As elected representatives, we are obliged to put an end to grievances, especially if they endanger life and limb.” Because contrary to the assessment of the district office and the police, the intersection is quite dangerous: “Such situations can be experienced there every single day. Citizens are repeatedly exposed to a considerable risk of accidents when crossing the intersection.”
An investigation by the administration seems to confirm this, at least in part. The town hall asked the police how many accidents had occurred at the maypole in the past five years. There were three in 2017, one of them a motorcyclist was seriously injured, the other two remained with property damage. As in the two accidents in 2018, the following year there were four crashes at the intersection, one person was slightly injured. Last year there were two accidents, in one of which a cyclist was seriously injured – but he was said to have “fallen alone”. Not so, however, for the cyclist who was involved in an accident on the spot this year and was seriously injured.
The conversion should be examined openly
The district office assesses the risk of accidents as too low, said Benedikt Weber (CSU) when he presented the application to the committee. That is why one should do another traffic show with those responsible in the spring. In addition, the maypole and the veterans’ association – the war memorial is also located at the intersection – should be included in order to make the renovation visually appealing. This welcomed Second Mayor Maria Wirnitzer (SPD), who chaired the meeting. More traffic safety at the point is absolutely necessary – but the intersection is also “something like our historic town center”, which is why a roundabout may not be the best solution – and also “often a disadvantage for cyclists”.
A roundabout is already planned further south, where Dorfstraße is then called Möschenfelder Straße.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The costs also speak for a different measure, said Brigitte Littke, head of the building authority. In the road construction budget for 2022, 50,000 euros were initially set for planning costs – but if a roundabout were built it could cost a lot more: Littke reminded that the municipality also had to finance the roundabout planned at the intersection of Möschenfelder and Zugspitzstraße, costing around 900,000 Euro. Whether and how much the community has to pay in the end depends on how an agreement is reached with the district. The committee decided to try to do this without dissenting votes.