< Show all posts

Braunschweig declares war on noise

The city in Central Germany wants to take massive action against noise and is planning drastic steps.

Anyone who regularly follows our blog knows how strong the trend towards noise protection in Europe is.
These zones, sprouting like mushrooms from the European soil, are designed to reduce noise, which is responsible for thousands of deaths every year. Braunschweig is keeping pace with this development and will be setting up many new "Tempo 30" zones in its own urban area, according to a statement from the town hall. These zones, including their speed limits, are only legally binding at night. Another measure to reduce noise levels is the laying of so-called whisper asphalt on prominent sections of streets such as the ring road in the city centre. An expert report shows the full extent of the problem: one in four inhabitants of Braunschweig lives in an environment with high decibel values and is therefore much too noisy: 61,300 people, a figure that puts the city fathers on alert.
"We start where it is worst," says Braunschweig's head of the environment, Thomas Gekeler, explaining the new approach of the city of Lower Saxony. At the end of the month, the draft 15-point plan still has to be approved in its entirety by the city council - the citizens of Braunschweig are looking forward to the measures known so far.
Noise protection zones literally save lives and are therefore spreading rapidly in other parts of Germany and will be even more common in the future.