Karlsruhe residents complain about too much delivery traffic
When the mayor of Karlsruhe stood for re-election almost a year ago, the Greens made their support conditional on several points: Parking fees were to be raised and a second bridge over the Rhine was to be dispensed with. Also under discussion were temporary driving bans and the possible introduction of a city toll. So far, however, this toll has not been an issue for the SPD mayor, so that until today there is only an environmental zone.
We remember: Karlsruhe has had an environmental zone since 2009, which is permanently valid and applies to all vehicles except motorbikes. In the meantime, only vehicles with the green and cleanest sticker 4 are allowed. Diesel vehicles with Euro standards 0-3 and petrol vehicles with Euro class 0 are no longer allowed to enter. The zone covers the entire city centre of Karlsruhe. To further relieve the city centre, six tram stops were relocated underground. The official inauguration of the new lines is scheduled for December 2021. This would mean that the trams, which used to travel through the city centre to the surrounding countryside at dense intervals and had a correspondingly large number of carriages, would no longer make it difficult for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users to cross the streets.
But now these road users are complaining about the delivery traffic, which is climate-friendly on the road, but is always in the second row or in the middle of the footpath and poses a danger to others. What solutions could there be? Is there a threat of a congestion charge, as some citizens are calling for? There are no plans for this. The guidelines for cooperation between the Greens and the SPD primarily envisage strengthening pedestrian traffic. In addition, there will be a reduction of roads at the expense of motorised individual traffic, the expansion of bicycle lanes and, above all, the reduction of car parking spaces in favour of bicycle parking facilities. The city wants to examine which residential streets are particularly congested by 2022. Temporary driving bans or even speed 30 zones could be introduced in these streets. If the conditions for the already existing environmental zone are also tightened, you will be the first to know in our Green Zones app.