According to Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (The Greens), the failed referendum for a change in traffic in Hesse will not remain without effect on the politics of the black-green state government.

The initiative, which is supported by more than 70,000 citizens, is unconstitutional for formal legal reasons, but he sees it as support for his commitment to a traffic turnaround in Hesse and as encouragement to make even more determined progress on this path, said Al-Wazir on Thursday in an interview with the FAZ He himself, together with politicians from the CDU/Greens state parliament coalition, has already had a conversation with the shop stewards of the initiative for a referendum and is optimistic

Ralph Euler

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung, responsible for the Rhein-Main section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Seen in this way, the initiative has not failed, said the minister.

He pointed out that there had been several citizens' requests on the subject of the traffic turnaround at the municipal level, none of which ultimately led to a referendum.

"But all of them have meant that cycling has gained a higher status in the municipalities." After their initiative had been declared unconstitutional by the state government, the speakers of the referendum initiative had received a "serious blow to direct democracy". spoken.

allegations by the opposition

According to Al-Wazir, the government had no choice but to reject the bill presented by the initiative.

It "quite obviously" interferes with the federal government's legislative competence in two places.

"The state legislature is not allowed to do that." In other places, "indefinite legal terms" such as the requirement for a "comfortable crossing of the road" would be used.

Such formulations cannot be written into a law.

"We couldn't decide otherwise and I really regret that."

In the state parliament, Al-Wazir recently had to be reproached by the opposition for not making fast enough progress in promoting public transport and cycling.

From 2014 to 2020, just 58 kilometers of cycle paths were built on federal and state roads in Hesse.

The minister explains this with long planning times and the fact that his predecessors from the FDP had hardly launched any projects before he took office eight years ago.

More than 200 cycle path projects are currently being planned or under construction.

Over the next five years, Al-Wazir announced that a new cycle path project would be completed “month by month”.

In 2014, according to the minister, only two million euros were available in Hessen for the construction of cycle paths on state roads.

This year it is 13 million euros and for 2024 17 million euros have already been earmarked for these purposes.

The development in the promotion of local public transport looks similar.

Eight years ago, around 660 million euros flowed to the Hessian transport associations, this year this amount is more than one billion euros for the first time - with a further upward trend.

Some things are still going too slowly for him, Al-Wazir admitted.

"But the direction is right in Hesse."