This year on September 16th it should have been a star cycle route as we know it. One trip, three Linzer Bridge. But nothing came of it; as reported, the crossing of the Voest Bridge was banned by the police primarily due to “massive traffic and safety concerns” and with reference to further events.
The ban only lasted until September 14th – there was too little time for the Upper Austria cycling lobby to register a new route. The star cycling still took place. But this was only possible because the Climate Alliance had already registered a different route as a precaution.
More on the subject: Linz cycling parade with record participation and a downer
The cycling lobby announced legal repercussions and filed a complaint against the ban with the Linz State Administrative Court. The initiative argued that the constitutional right to free assembly had been insufficiently honored. Such meetings have been taking place for several years and the disruptions and possible alternative routes had been pointed out well in advance.
The State Administrative Court came to the conclusion that the ban on the reported meeting was unlawful. The court justified this decision by saying that the planned meeting should have taken place on a day without commuter traffic and that the tour was scheduled to last just over an hour.
Traffic measures did not have to be implemented at the same time due to the movement of the participants; the expected traffic disruptions would not be a justification for the ban. Experiences from previous years were not taken into account; the meeting was reported around one and a half months before the day of the event. The assembly authority would therefore have had sufficient time to limit the resulting traffic disruptions to a tolerable level through appropriate measures, it goes on to say.
The reference to other events is also not a reason for prohibition, for example at the flea market on the main square, disruption would only have been marginal.
