In July, Infosperber reported on street advertising that distracts road users and should never have been approved. Why they still stand can be seen as an example at Falkenplatz in Bern (picture above). There is a wide sidewalk there. That’s why the covered bench at the level of the bus stop doesn’t disturb pedestrians. But what is annoying is the street advertising that stands in the way on the sidewalk.
The advertisement only leaves pedestrians a passage 1.55 meters wide. Some people take to the streets at peak times. But above all: street advertising is illegal. When it was approved in 2001, the 1979 Signaling Ordinance was still in force. It said:
- “In urban areas, free-standing street advertisements must be at least 3 m away from the edge of the road.”
- And: “Street advertisements that hinder pedestrians on the sidewalk are particularly inadmissible.”
Die Today’s Signaling Ordinance (Articles 95 to 100) is worded more vaguely. But it also says: “Street advertisements that could impair traffic safety are prohibited, especially if they hinder or endanger those authorized to use them in traffic areas intended for pedestrians.”
Not checked properly
Nevertheless, those responsible at the Bern city building inspectorate claim: “The project was examined and approved in accordance with the law applicable at the time and therefore has status.” Thomas Schneeberger, traffic expert at Pro Velo Bern, has strong doubts about this. He says that at the time the construction project was only examined from a railway law point of view.
And indeed. When asked by Infosperber, the Federal Office of Transport (BAV), which approved the street advertising, had to admit: “The procedure was a plan approval procedure under federal law. In particular, it was checked whether the installations respected railway, trolleybus and electricity legislation. As it appears, the BAV did not check whether the neon sign met the requirements of the signaling regulations at the time with a distance of three meters from the edge of the road.
Authorities failure? Or intentional?
A “gift” from APG
The city of Bern could have made the BAV aware of the fact that the street advertising should not have been approved according to the signaling regulations. But the city authorities were very interested in the poster stand at Falkenplatz – like many others – being realized. Because they were a “gift” from the General Poster Society (APG). The APG built, cleaned and maintained 79 covered stops for the city of Bern. In return, the city, as it announced at the time, “allowed the APG to use the advertising media at the stops in order to finance the construction and maintenance of the facilities.”
And in return, the city apparently accepted that the APG would put up illegal and dangerous street advertisements. The city’s announcement at the time sounds like a mockery: The new stops “will also increase safety for public transport users.” Thomas Schneeberger says: “The decision was money-driven.”
Even today
It is astonishing how lax the authorities in the city of Bern are. The canton of Bern actually regulates street advertising quite strictly. In the cantonal road regulations It is stipulated which distances from the street must not be undercut. There is also a 27-page information sheet. The distances are mentioned again there. These depend on the orientation of the street advertising. The following applies:
- Across the street: three meters.
- Parallel to the street: one meter.
In practice it looks different. There are advertisements on sidewalks in many places in the city of Bern. The minimum distance of three meters is rarely maintained.
Disturbing the passengers: poster stands on Bernstrasse in Bern-Bümpliz.
Sometimes across, then diagonally, then across again
On Winkelriedstrasse, the city of Bern approved three poster stands in the middle of the sidewalk. Pro Velo Bern ensured that they were rotated by 45 degrees so that the posters obscured pedestrians less and were less of a hindrance to pedestrians. But now the poster stands are again across the street – at a distance of just 1.40 meters.
First across the street, then at a 45 degree angle, now across again: Winkelriedstrasse in Bern.
Obscures the view of the waiting passengers at the bus stop: street advertising next to the cycle path on Winkelriedstrasse in Bern. Pro Velo Bern at least managed to get a railing to prevent crossing directly behind the poster.
Also in Muri
Even in the neighboring community of Muri near Bern, people don’t take the laws and traffic safety particularly seriously. In 2002, the municipality approved two billboard stands on Thorackerstrasse that obstructed the view. The IG Velo Bern (today Pro Velo Bern) objected. The APG, which had submitted the building application, subsequently lost before all three instances: before the cantonal construction, transport and energy directorate, before the administrative court and finally before the Federal Court.
It stated: “The Federal Court fundamentally attaches great importance to the aspect of road safety in relation to economic interests.” It also wrote: “The cantons should apply a strict standard when approving advertising.” And: “Even a potential impairment or a remote, indirect threat that does not even normally occur is enough to impair road safety.”
Although the Federal Court ruling is crystal clear, at Muri train station – in the immediate vicinity of Thorackerstrasse – there have been several street advertisements 40 centimeters from the edge of the road for years. They should never have been approved. For the same reasons as at Falkenplatz in Bern.
They are too close to the street, they are on the sidewalk, and they hinder pedestrians. They also impair the mutual visibility of pedestrians and rolling road users. And they violated another passage from the signaling regulations at the time: “Street advertisements may not be set up in close succession.”
In the middle of the sidewalk with a distance of 40 centimeters from the street and far too close to the pedestrian crossing: poster stands at the Muri BE train station.
Communities are not allowed to decide for themselves
In the case of the Bernese municipality of Muri, the administrative court decided that municipalities are not allowed to issue a building permit for a poster stand themselves. The government governor’s office is responsible. This applies to construction projects from which a community benefits. For example, because APG pays a concession fee. The ruling has no impact on building permits that have already been issued.
Recently also information boards
According to Thomas Schneeberger from Pro Velo Bern, it’s not just street advertisements that are now affecting visibility in traffic: “A newer problem is the so-called pylons – information boards that have no direct advertising character.”
No street advertising, but still a visual obstruction: address of the children’s hospital in Bern.
They are available, for example, as an orientation aid on the Bern Island Hospital area, but also at universities, at public transport stops or at parking spaces for rental bicycles. “These pylons can be just as obstructive to visibility and a traffic hazard as a commercial billboard.”
Further information
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