City still evaluating

Will the pedestrian zone remain after the bypass?

Linzer Straße has become a pedestrian zone, but the city bus is also allowed to drive through it.(Bild: Thomas Werth)

From October, many cars could soon be driving through Linzer Straße in the center of St. Pölten again. However, the city first wants to evaluate whether the temporary traffic calming will remain.

In just under a month, the Tangente Festival in St. Pölten will be over. This also marks the end of the temporary pedestrian zone in Linzer Straße, which was not only painted as part of the replacement program for the failed Capital of Culture bid, but has now even been greened. But will cars soon be roaring through the traffic-calmed section in the city center again? Behind closed doors, the answer already seems to be clear: The pedestrian zone will remain a permanent solution. Police officers, for example, also assume this.

What will happen to the LUP?
However, the town hall is still keeping a low profile, at least officially. "The current situation is currently being evaluated. All options are being discussed," they say. However, no answer was given as to whose opinions will be taken into account. The same applies to the question of what will happen to the LUP city bus. It is currently allowed to drive through the pedestrian zone. However, the maximum permitted walking speed is sometimes significantly exceeded.

Because the cars that are allowed to drive through still adhere to the old traffic rules, most pedestrians stay on the remaining sidewalks anyway. "A fixed pedestrian zone can therefore only work if the LUP is rerouted and the street is redesigned," many St. Pölten residents are certain.