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Step towards safety: Petition to reduce speed in Hernals
A petition in Hernals calls for a speed limit of 30 on the main street for more safety and a better economy. The Vienna City Council has now dealt with the petition. What's next?
Step towards safety: Petition to reduce speed in Hernals
A petition from the Hernals district has recently attracted attention and managed to get the necessary number of signatures to be considered by the Vienna City Council. This petition aims to reduce the speed on Hernalser Hauptstraße in order to increase general safety and improve the shopping experience for residents.
Hernalser Hauptstrasse isn't exactly looking its best at the moment. Vacant shops can be observed in many places, indicating a declining economic trend in the area. The initiative, led by Joachim Zittmayr, would like to remedy the situation by reducing the speed from the previous 50 km/h to 30 km/h. This change would be particularly important for the section between Elterleinplatz and the Belt.
Economic pressure and traffic safety
The background to the petition is alarming: According to Zittmayr, the remaining shops on Hernalser Hauptstrasse are barely registering any sales, which is leading to a serious survival problem for the managers. “The unattractive location makes it difficult for businesses to survive,” explains Zittmayr. The initiator has been campaigning for these changes since the beginning of 2019 and was able to get the district to measure speed, which showed that the average speed is actually 33 km/h.
With over 800 votes collected, Zittmayr mobilized like-minded people, which led to the petition having to be discussed in the Petitions Committee. During the last meeting, Mobility City Councilor Uli Sima (SPÖ) expressed skepticism about the proposals and emphasized the great importance of Hernalser Hauptstrasse for through traffic. That's why, says Sima, there are no plans to change the speed limit.
Zittmayr contradicts this statement. He points out that there are enough roads with similar traffic importance that still have lower speed limits. District leader Peter Jagsch (SPÖ) explained that a 30 zone is currently failing due to the lack of a legal basis. However, he gave a clear commitment to his support for the demand if an appropriate solution was found. Zittmayr notes that this initiative must come from the district. Unfortunately, he notes, “the political will is not there.”
At this point it remains unclear whether the petition will be further processed. The district has not yet announced a specific time frame or status regarding the final decision; The status of the petition is currently “in progress”.
The citizens of Hernals can only hope that their voice will be heard and that conditions in their neighborhood will improve as quickly as possible. Details on this topic are also in a current report on www.meinkreis.at to read.