Around 120 interested citizens came to the event to discuss with representatives of the political groups on the Salzgitter city council, the city administration, Bernd Mühlnickel from the state road construction administration and Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel how the district's roads can be relieved of traffic.
The discussion was based on the "Mobility Master Plan", which the city commissioned the Hanover-based engineering firm Schubert to draw up in 2011. This will be completed shortly and then presented to the city council for a decision.
According to Klingebiel, the members of the council agreed not to adopt the master plan before this citizens' dialog had taken place in Salder.
Thomas Müller from the engineering firm presented the contents of the plan. In the traffic analysis prior to the creation of the plan, it was determined that the L 472, which leads from Gebhardshagen to Lebenstedt via Museumstraße and Mindener Straße, is heavily congested. On weekdays, 8,200 vehicles were counted on Museumstraße alone. An average of 440 heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tons were recorded per day. The higher proportion was accounted for by through traffic.
In the master plan, the engineering office therefore proposed several options to relieve the situation, such as a ban on HGVs and a continuous 30 km/h zone in Museumstraße and a shift of slow-moving traffic to the north-south road or via Lichtenberg to the highway. However, this would entail detours for heavy goods traffic and put a strain on others, such as Mindener Straße. The best solution for relieving congestion would be to build a bypass around the district to the L636 or further to Peiner Straße. However, as Museumsstraße is a state road, the construction of such a road would not be the responsibility of the city of Salzgitter but of the state. In addition, the cost-benefit ratio would have to be determined by calculating the costs of construction, land acquisition, noise protection and compensation measures in order to be able to make a clear statement as to whether a bypass is worthwhile.
Frank Klingebiel reported that the state of Lower Saxony has not yet been prepared to cover these costs. If the city of Salzgitter were to build the road, it would do so as a voluntary service for the state. "We don't have the money," emphasized the Lord Mayor, "Salzgitter can't draw on its full resources". However, traffic control measures could be taken by the city administration, such as restricting the passage of trucks under 7.5 tons on Museumstraße or the speed to 30 kilometers per hour, in order to provide relief.
"I will immediately apply to the Ministry of Transport for a continuous 30 km/h zone and a ban on HGVs driving through Museumstrasse," announced Wolfram Skorczyk (Head of Citizen Services and Public Safety). However, consideration must be given to the local businesses and a special regulation for buses must be set up. Mühlnickel did not want to predict whether the ministry would give its approval for these regulations: "It could go either way."
With the exception of Wolfgang Rosenthal from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, the representatives of the council factions were also unanimous: the construction of a bypass cannot be financed by the city. Hermann Fleischer (parliamentary group leader of DieLinke) argued in favor of renovating roads rather than investing in new ones. Group chairman Ulrich Leidecker (SPD) emphasized that he was in favour of funds being made available for short-term traffic measures in Salder. Rolf Stratmann, chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, emphasized that his group was not in favour of shifting traffic to other roads. However, he also spoke out in favor of removing heavy goods traffic from Museumstrasse.
After the presentation of the positions of the administration and council members, the citizens were able to ask questions to the panel members. The discussion, which was conducted objectively throughout, focused primarily on the fear that if heavy goods traffic is restricted in Museumstrasse, HGV traffic will be diverted to other residential streets and then cause considerable inconvenience to local residents. However, the desire for a bypass was also repeatedly expressed.
What happens next?
The master plan is expected to be adopted in the first half of the year. The decision on the approval of individual measures will be made by the council, provided the state gives its approval. Prior to this, the city administration will determine reliable figures and costs in order to be able to carry out cost/benefit calculations for individual measures. In addition, a new traffic count will be carried out on behalf of the city in order to obtain current figures for Salder.