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Eco lanes in Düsseldorf before the end

According to the organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), the eco lanes in the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia have failed.

Düsseldorf motorists can breathe a sigh of relief despite high nitrogen levels: the unpleasant eco lanes are on the verge of their long-awaited demise. According to DUH's managing director Jürgen Resch, the project has failed - at least in Düsseldorf. But the city on the Lower Rhine also has other ways of getting the situation under control and consequently circumventing diesel driving bans. 
"We are not complaining about individual measures, we want clean air. (...) We are eager to see what the new Lord Mayor will come up with in this respect," Resch told the Westdeutsche Zeitung. The DUH cannot be accused of inactivity anywhere in Germany, especially in NRW. The Reschs organisation has sued 40 municipalities in this most populous state of Germany alone for excessive levels of air pollution. Most cases were settled with the help of out-of-court settlements (we reported), but not the Düsseldorf case. Late one year ago, during the autumn school holidays, Düsseldorf was completely submerged in the chaos of e eco lanes - including anger and frustration on the part of commuters and residents! If the metropolis is now unable to solve the problem, which according to the current state of affairs looks more than likely, in an extreme case the Higher Administrative Court in Münster would take legal action and finally set in motion the dreaded diesel driving bans for the state capital. 

Finally, Resch makes a personal appeal to Lord Mayor Geisel: "Lord Mayor Geisel's concept with the eco lanes has failed in our view as well. We would like to see a positive debate on a traffic turnaround".