The district capital is suffocated by traffic on excursion days. Especially along the Esplanade, a metal avalanche is rolling through the city center. Some drivers drive back and forth several times to maybe get a parking space after all. Others just drive through to enjoy the view.
But Gmunden no longer wants to be rolled over: Reinhold Kassmannhuber (ÖVP parliamentary group), chairman of the mobility committee, is gradually taking traffic-calming measures. “The city is for visitors, not for cars driving through,” he says.
Most recently, Kassmannhuber reduced the permitted maximum speed to 40 km/h across the board. Now it’s the Esplanade’s turn: If the pottery market attracts thousands of visitors to the city on Sunday in a week, the Esplanade will be closed to motorized private transport. It is a test run that will be evaluated afterwards, and more are likely to follow. The aim is to free Gmunden’s promenade from the stranglehold of car traffic on event days. “We’re only concerned with the days of the event,” assures Kassmannhuber. “On weekdays, free passage for rush hour traffic is essential.”
On Ceramics Market Sunday, the esplanade will be closed to individual traffic from the entrance to the yacht club to the entrance to the Traunsee underground car park between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Only public transport and residents are exempt from this. The latter receive their special permit in a letter from the city office, which they must carry with them in the vehicle.
During the entire pottery market, the municipality propagates arrivals by public transport, parking on the outskirts and shuttle services with the Citybus and Traunseetram.
Source: Nachrichten
