The order of the Wiesbaden city council to the magistrate to impose a speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour on various main traffic axes in the state capital and to designate more speed 30 zones (FAZ of July 17) in the course of an 18-month pilot test, violates the law .

What Lord Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD) did not want to admit directly during the meeting, he admitted after some time to the address of the city council: “According to the legal situation, you should not have done that.

The political will of the majority has, however, been registered. "

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis and for Wiesbaden.

  • Follow I follow

On the advice of the legal office, Mende formally objected to the city council's decision on the inner-city speed limit.

The legal office had stated in its statement that the decision was "illegal" because the responsibility for streets that are not purely residential streets lies solely with the mayor as the "local regulatory authority".

In Wiesbaden, the responsibility of the road traffic authority is delegated to the head of the traffic department.

From the town hall it is said that, despite the formal complaint, the project can be pursued by the specialist offices of the transport department under their own responsibility.

According to Mende, head of the transport department, Andreas Kowol (The Greens) “will decide on the specific application after careful consideration”.

With speed limit against the noise

Kowol points out that the state's 2020 Noise Action Plan for Wiesbaden provides for speed limits on heavily used inner-city streets. Regardless of the formal responsibility, it is clear that the city council supports the goal of moderate traffic calming. In addition, the local advisory board in the middle has also called for "Tempo 40", says Kowol. The project is therefore being pursued by the road traffic authority, the environmental department and the civil engineering and surveying office: "The ongoing noise limit violations leave us no other choice." sensible and technically necessary ”. Mainly for reasons of noise protection and air pollution control.

As reported, the city council had decided immediately before the summer break to test the maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour in the lower Schiersteiner Strasse, Schwalbacher Strasse, Moritz and Oranienstrasse, Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring, Bismarckring, Seerobenstrasse, Bahnhofstrasse, Bleichstrasse and Emser Strasse 22 and 6 o'clock on the Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring, the Bismarckring and in the Seerobenstraße to throttle to 30 kilometers per hour.

Regional council must agree

At the meeting, the Legal Secretary Oliver Franz (CDU) pointed out that the decision was illegal due to a lack of jurisdiction.

The mayor must therefore object, said Franz at the meeting, visibly surprising his colleagues from the magistrate.

At least the legal department will propose this to the mayor, announced Franz.

The four-page report is now available.

It says that neither the magistrate nor the city council are authorized to make decisions.

The road traffic authority must also obtain the approval of the regional council.

Mende accepted this assessment, although there are also other legal opinions that do not recognize the city council's authority being exceeded in the decision.

Green parliamentary group leader Christiane Hinninger does not consider Mende's objection to be tragic because he supports the aims of the motion. Reducing the speed brings more safety, less noise and fewer emissions. It corresponds to the country's noise reduction plan and a proposal from the regional council. The intervention of the legal department in July is surprising because the application has been known since mid-May. Since then, Franz has had ample opportunity to express his concerns: “Either someone is not doing his job or he is trying to show off others.” Neither of these is acceptable.