The fact that climate councilor Eva Schobesberger (Greens) spoke out earlier this week in favor of completely banning cars from the Nibelungen Bridge with the release of the Westring Bridge in autumn 2024 is, as reported, upsetting.
The waves are rising not only online, but also politically. Transport Minister Günther Steinkellner (FP) speaks of “utopian discussions”, the Linz transport officer Martin Hajart (VP) of a “not thought through and ideologically driven” proposal.
What is fixed is that a simulation is now used to test for the Nibelungen Bridge how it would affect the traffic situation if two lanes were released for cyclists. Yesterday’s city senate session gave the green light for this. The costs for this amount to almost 70,000 euros, these are divided between the city and the state.
Vice Mayor Hajart said yesterday in the OÖN interview that he could not imagine a car-free Nibelungen Bridge, but his own bicycle and pedestrian bridge at a different location – “roughly at the height of the Brucknerhaus”. One could discuss that – addendum: “But the priority at the moment is the “faster” solution on the Nibelungen Bridge.”
“Urgently necessary”
The Greens are happy to take this ball, the idea has been discussed several times in the past, but without success. “A transition exclusively for soft mobility has been a reality in many other cities for years and would also be urgently needed in Linz in order to finally give more space and importance to walking and cycling. The fact that the vice mayor responsible for traffic now recognizes that a separate bridge would be important for cyclists and pedestrians is very gratifying and a positive signal,” said club chairman Helge Langer.
A concrete project for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge has been available for more than 15 years, this goes back to the green mobility councilor Jürgen Himmelbauer. As is well known, it was never implemented.
Source: Nachrichten
