Measure brought forward

Car-free main square heats up election campaign emotions

Taxi drivers and night owls can breathe a sigh of relief: the cab rank should actually have been cut down, but will now remain.

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

Now it's happening after all! From October 28, Linz's main square will be freed from through traffic because Klosterstraße will become a pedestrian zone. Implementation was actually planned to coincide with the opening of the Westring Bridge, but VP city deputy Martin Hajart wanted to decouple the two events.

 He considers a "soft start" in the fall vacations to be more sensible. However, although the measure is generally considered sensible by all parties, there was a hail of accusations and criticism from all camps in all directions.

Pure election campaign
While SP planning councillor Dietmar Prammer, for example, cannot understand Hajart's "solo effort without necessity" and wants to hold him responsible if chaos ensues due to the lack of an alternative route, climate councillor Eva Schobesberger dislikes the fact that the jury deciding on the winning project for the redesign of the main square - the competition is about to be put out to tender - is made up solely of the planning councillor from the political side.

Is there really a threat of traffic collapse?
FP city councillor Michael Raml criticizes Hajart: "The trial of a car-free main square in summer 2020 clearly showed that without alternative options, there is a threat of traffic collapse that extends far beyond the city centre. At that time, the volume of traffic during the summer vacations was probably even lower than during the upcoming fall vacations, which play a rather minor role in Austria."

Cab as a sideshow
And there are also side issues: three days ago, the Chamber of Commerce raised the alarm because it was rumored that the cab rank, which is particularly popular with night owls in the old town, would have to go. "Everything is off the table. The planners wanted it, but for me it was never really up for discussion," says Hajart.

Kommentar

Wenig Raum für Konstruktivität

What a Punch and Judy show! First, last week, mobility officer Martin Hajart stopped the planned cycle lanes on the Nibelungen Bridge - so that they wouldn't become an election campaign issue. With the result that they became one even more. And now he is forging ahead by closing the main square to through traffic three weeks earlier than planned. Probably because it doesn't matter whether it becomes an election issue, the Linz election campaign seems to have been going on anyway since Luger's resignation and will continue to accompany us for the next 113 days. Instead of driving forward promising projects together and shining together, the only thing that is being done is tactics and attempts to present themselves alone in the most positive light. That could be fun!