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Wuppertal: no room for eco lane

In Wuppertal there is still no sign of agreement on the eco lane. But time is playing against the metropolis.

In mid-September, local elections are scheduled for NRW. This makes it all the more important to discuss the issue of the environmental footprint objectively and across party lines, as transport director Frank Meyer emphasises to the Westdeutsche Zeitung (WZ). However, the CDU and the Greens, but also the former People's Party SPD, are deeply divided within the party when it comes to the issue of the environmental footprint. 

The bone of contention is the historic federal highway B7, one of the most important traffic axes of the North Rhine-Westphalian city. Here, all four lanes, which have already been excised, would be needed to cope with the daily traffic of about 33,000 vehicles. A reduction in favour of the unpopular eco lane is unthinkable, as several politicians have repeatedly emphasised. On an eco lane, access would then only be permitted for buses, electric cars, emergency vehicles and bicycles. However, since cyclists are already partially allowed to use the existing lane on the B7, there is no need for further action, Meyer added. A backlog on the north-south connection must be avoided at all costs. The fear of experiencing a similar dilemma to that in Düsseldorf can be heard in all nationwide discussions on the eco lane. For Meyer, it is important to learn from the mistakes of the state capital and to "endideologise" the topic, as the WZ quotes the transport department heads. 

So the election campaign in NRW remains hot. The causal fact that a "no" to the eco lane would most likely mean a "yes" to diesel driving bans in the opposite direction seems to have escaped the politicians in Wuppertal so far.