Small path, great effort – this is how the planning for the connection through the “Green Center” on the Unterhachinger Stumpfwiese can be summarized. But what at first glance seems like an everyday task in the town hall is actually a major challenge for local politics. Because the discussion about the 30 meters between Witneystrasse and Ludwig-Specht-Strasse divides the residents of Stumpfwiese and turns the decision-makers into doubters.
Last autumn, the municipal council decided on a variant called “semi-open” and which provides for a footpath and cycle path as well as a “functional area with quality of life”. Cars are not allowed through here. For the design of this traffic solution, the municipality has started extensive citizen participation with surveys, an “open-air exhibition” and dialogue. The first citizens’ consultation hour took place in December, the second is planned for Friday, January 21st. Then, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the employees of the commissioned urban development office “Studio, City, Region” will again answer questions and receive suggestions from the residents in a personal conversation directly in front of the posters at the end of Witneystraße.
Many small pieces of paper with wishes and messages were stuck to the “participation wall” after the first citizens’ dialogue four weeks ago. According to the municipal administration, the mailbox there especially for this exchange with the residents was also well filled with postcards on which the citizens had written down all sorts of ideas. “It’s great that the subject of car traffic is off the table,” wrote one. “Please no place and no party area,” asked another. “A café” can also be well imagined by someone.
Many emphasize that they are happy to be asked. According to the town hall administration, around 80 to 90 people were there over the three and a half hours at the first appointment in December. “The general mood for the decision is very positive,” said City Hall spokesman Simon Hötzl. There were a few dissatisfied people, but they were in the minority, the administration speaks of around ten people. In the town hall, one concludes from the first experiences: “The dialogue and the impetus from the community is well received, many seem to have been waiting for the decision.”
It wasn’t the first time that the residents of Stumpfwiese were asked: How would you like it? At a citizens’ workshop almost seven years ago, it turned out that a majority wanted a green center that also deserved its name. Leave cars outside was the credo. But soon after, those who advocated the breakthrough for motorized traffic also spoke up. The municipality was faced with a dilemma and postponed the decision until the development of the stump meadow had progressed far enough for the new residents to have a say.
The City Council took up the issue again last year. The public debate in the committee was preceded by a written citizen survey, a traffic report and two workshops by local politicians. The lively participation in a survey last September showed that the subject of the Green Center is still important to the residents of Stumpfwiesen. 1528 people had provided information about the direction in which they drive their car in the morning and whether they favored a road connection through the green belt. Here again there was a clear vote for a car-free Green Centre. 77 percent rejected the road link.
However, the construction of this small connection cannot only be viewed from the point of view of the residents of Witney- and Ludwig-Specht-Straße. If the passage there remains blocked except for bicycles, people do not necessarily drive via Biberger Straße outside the residential area. There is the Walter-Paetzmann-Straße, which is closer. A one-way street regulation has been in force here for a long time due to a construction site, it would be “an important part of the traffic-calming overall solution,” as the expert Harald Kurzak writes. He had found that if Witneystrasse were connected to Ludwig-Specht-Strasse, around 300 cars would move to the new connection every day.
Since a majority for the cycle and footpath through the Green Center was found in November in the municipal council, it has now been clarified: What exactly should that look like? There are again three planning variants: paths with and without space or even shared space. These in turn allow all kinds of implementations. Citizens can now think about ten different designs and express their opinion before the actual planning begins.