report-K presents selected articles from the newsletter of the Cologne Press Club, which you can subscribe to here. The Cologne Press Club is responsible for the editorial content. The author of this article, Peter Pauls, is chairman of the Cologne Press Club. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger for many years.
Traffic turnaround in Cologne? There the rags fly. Is it still about traffic? Or just about the power, about being right? A selection of texts from the daily newspapers: car freedom divides Deutz, Eigelstein heats up tempers, traffic turnaround with obstacles, poisoned atmosphere in the district. Those affected, whether for or against, speak of village farce, damage to business, hostilities. What’s the matter?
Cologne is not alone in striving for a “traffic turnaround”. But is it particularly bumpy here? “Unfortunately, that’s the way it is,” confirms Prof. Dr. Roman Suthold. Due to political pressure on the administration, speed comes before diligence in the implementation of “traffic tests”, adds the head of the “Traffic and Environment” department at the ADAC in NRW. That leads to errors. The summit is the traffic policy maze on Venloer Straße, which was ridiculed nationwide. “But,” Suthold continues, “the basic idea is correct.” Only the city acted too hectically. Politics, warns the transport expert, should not interfere, but only set the framework. However, the specific measures must be implemented by the technically trained administration. It’s comparable to a hospital. Providing this is a political decision. But in the operating rooms, medical specialists would have to determine. Just imagine if a politician wanted to take your tonsils out.
Politics dominates the traffic turnaround, specifically: The Greens. That doesn’t have to be surprising. It’s a core issue. What amazes me is the craftsmanship. Get through at all costs. Hug and bang your head through the wall. This is not local politics, this is power struggle. I first noticed this on the Eigelstein. The local business people were “one hundred percent behind the idea of making the Eigelstein car-free,” the media quoted district mayor Andreas Hupke (Greens). But that’s not true: there was a counter-resolution with 300 signatures.
At the end of April, the article “Eigelstein heats people up” appeared in Cologne newspapers. He reports on a CDU meeting with residents and tradespeople. In it, a police officer calls the Eigelstein a “legal vacuum” for fast cyclists. It is more dangerous today than it used to be when cars were still driving there. A retailer complains that 30 shops are on the verge of collapse. No one comes by bus and train to go shopping. The Rewe market, however, has had good experiences. “No losses, increasing number of customers.”
Shortly thereafter, Cologne’s Green Party leader Stefan Wolters, far removed from reality, turned the situation there into its opposite. After the reduction in car traffic, the purchasing power on the Eigelstein has improved, and dealers’ fears have not materialized, he fantasizes. If I were affected, I would lose all confidence in such politics – whether the party book now stands for green, black, yellow or red.
The basis of trust is gone, says traffic expert Suthold. At the Deutzer Freiheit you can experience where this leads. Victims who see their existence in danger seek legal assistance. They see no other way to deal with this policy, which they feel is being ignored.
A hard tone is now part of the reality on the streets of Cologne. The abstract vocabulary of the Department for Mobility covers it like a concealing blanket. It talks about traffic tests, magnifying glass rooms and laboratory measures that remain “modelable and scalable”. It sounds as if the traffic turnaround is a technical matter in which you just have to push the right buttons. But it’s not like that alone. You have to talk to each other instead of just putting up new prohibition signs.
Summarized: The “traffic trials” are more of an experiment and are successful when the transport policy goals have been achieved. The city administration is also making an effort to implement citizen participation. Digital surveys, leaflets in mailboxes, meetings. Although I see a younger, digitally savvy and well-connected clientele at an advantage here, who mobilize for local hearings city-wide and not just in the affected Veedel – but the effort is recognizable.
Why are so many citizens surprised by the measures? Perhaps because they have exhausting working days behind them? Or because they no longer believe in their ability to exert influence? In any case, things cannot go on as they are. “An accident and a violent altercation between individual road users is only a matter of time here,” fears the manager of the Excelsior Hotel Ernst, Georg Plesser. The current situation is bad for business. “Our guests are confused despite the information we have provided.”
And now? According to an urban survey, more and more people in Cologne are leaving their cars at home. So there is good will among the citizens who nevertheless have to be treated like misguided adolescents. The new traffic regulations are brought to us musically – at a cost of half a million euros – as if it were about a good mood and not a necessity. The fact that many need their car because they commute or the public transport in Cologne does not offer an alternative is apparently not noticed.
As so often, I miss leadership in the city, an authority that brings people together. At least the “traffic tests” have been temporarily suspended. But what happens when the big picture comes first? Is it then perhaps about coordinated solutions and consensus?
2023-06-02 14:51:52
#Press #Club #Cologne #Traffic #turnaround #Cologne #power #struggle #poisoned #climate #ReportK
