Traffic calming
«Superblock light»: The entire Wettstein district in Basel becomes a 20 km/h zone
The canton of Basel-Stadt does not want to implement a superblock experiment with traffic-calmed streets in the Wettstein district. A neighborhood association has now found another way to push through its request – but there is a risk of resistance from supposed allies.
Corner of Alemannengasse and Burgweg: Here, too, the Wettstein 21 neighborhood association wants to have a speed limit of 20 km/h throughout.
Bild: Kenneth Nars
“Disappointed and angry”: This is how the Wettstein 21 neighborhood association described the mood of its members at the beginning of the year. The Basel government had just informed the association that there would be no superblock attempt in the upper Kleinbasel for the time being. In a superblock, neighborhood streets are combined – hence block – and freed from through traffic. But the Wettstein neighborhood did not give in after the town hall said no: Now superblocks are being built through the back door. “Superblocks light,” as Wettstein 21 calls them.
The neighborhood association intends to create numerous new meeting zones. In these, the speed limit is 20 km/h and pedestrians have right of way. If there is enough space, benches and planters can be set up. The neighborhood association has initially drawn up applications for meeting zones for five streets or sections, namely Turnerstrasse and Rheinfelderstrasse, Fischerweg, Burgweg and Alemannengasse. In a second step, applications for three more streets will follow.
Those responsible are focusing on all streets in the district that serve as access roads. This is the lowest category in the road network hierarchy. If all projects were to go ahead, the Wettstein district would be almost completely covered by a 20 km/h zone (see map).
A third of the residents must sign
“We would like to see meeting areas in the neighborhood streets with more greenery,” says Nicole Wirz from the Wettstein 21 neighborhood association. “The residents should be included in the planning.” After the government council’s negative decision in January, they were disappointed. After all, the idea of bringing the superblocks to Basel came from Upper Kleinbasel. But they sat together, discussed a lot and then decided to continue.
In order to submit an application for a meeting zone to the canton, at least a third of the residents must support the request. The members and supporters of Wettstein 21 have rung doorbells in recent months. The owners of local companies and businesses were also able to sign. The signatures have already been collected for the first five streets mentioned above.
A petition is also submitted
The applications with the signatures, over 330 according to the association, will be handed over to the canton next Wednesday afternoon. “At the same time, we are also handing over a petition with over 500 signatures,” announced Wettstein 21. “It calls for extensive greening of the district, especially the street space, with the aim of reducing heat and improving the quality of stay.”
Wettstein 21 calls its meeting areas “BB+”. The second “B” stands for greenery. The aim is to go beyond the minimum requirements, say those responsible. In addition to trees and bushes, the focus is also on green facades.
Residents can have a say
It will probably take a while before the meeting zones are implemented. The Basel Department of Construction and Transport (BVD) says that it will first check whether a street even meets the requirements for a meeting zone. Then an implementation proposal will be drawn up and improved with the help of feedback from residents. “The revised project will then be presented to all residents for a final assessment with the second survey.”
Two thirds of the households participating in the vote must then approve the meeting zone in order for the project to continue. One household counts as one vote. “If the necessary votes are received, the canton will publish the meeting zone in the cantonal gazette,” writes the BVD. If there are no objections, implementation will begin.
St.Johann and Matthäus are the test laboratories
The initiators of “BB+” are probably feeling a certain satisfaction. The government awarded two superblock trials to St. Johann and Matthäus in January. In the spirit of “city as laboratory”, the tests are intended to find out “how a superblock can be successfully implemented in Basel”, the executive announced.
According to the Wettstein 21 association, the government left the Wettstein district empty-handed because it was already privileged with access to the Rhine. In addition, there was a lack of meeting areas that could serve as a “starting point” for the superblocks. At least this deficiency should soon be remedied – if no objections delay the meeting areas.
Resistance is threatening from within the district itself: the Oberes Kleinbasel neighborhood association had only expressed criticism of the superblocks in May. They would fit in with big cities like Barcelona, where the concept comes from, but not with Basel.
More articles from these communities
