Many cities and municipalities are actively considering lowering the speed limit from 50 to 30 km/h. But a major German city is going a big step further from next month.
Frankfurt am Main will significantly reduce the speed limit in parts of the city. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel From next month, motorists in the city center of the metropolis with approximately 780,000 inhabitants will be slowed to 20 km/h.
According to traffic department head Wolfgang Siefert of De Groenen, ‘pointless car traffic’ must be restricted. “Driving from parking garage to parking garage or ‘showing off’ your car should become impossible in the city center,” he says. The goal is a city center that is not car-free, but car-poor. According to him, the measures also serve to protect the climate and guarantee the future equality of all road users.
More bicycle space, fewer parking spaces
The speed reduction will start next month in part of the city center. The 20 km/h speed limit must then be extended step by step to the adjacent neighborhoods. However, this only applies to side streets – on main roads the existing speed limits must continue to apply to through traffic. Siefert also wants to reduce the number of parking spaces along the streets. The ones that remain will no longer be free in the future.
“If you want to come to the center of Frankfurt by car, you can continue to do so and then pull into a parking garage,” he said. There should be more disabled parking spaces and taxi parking spaces, as well as more delivery and loading zones. Parking spaces that are currently free will be charged in the future. Many side streets also need to be made bicycle-friendly. With a survey into satisfaction with the traffic calming measures next year, Siefert wants to take the wind out of the criticism of the measures.
Amsterdam: 30 km/h from December 8
Across Germany, around 900 cities and municipalities have now come together to form a corresponding initiative for a general speed limit of 30 in urban areas. Similar restrictions also apply in other European countries. Since 2021, you have not been allowed to drive faster than 30 km/h in the city center of Brussels. The same speed limit has also been in effect for some time in metropolises such as Barcelona or Paris. And Amsterdam has also been working on a significant speed reduction in the city for some time. From December 8, a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour will apply on 80 percent of the roads.
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