"Just more fines" Citizens fume over 30 km/h zone at Zurich main station - Greens put into perspective

The city of Zurich wants to make the city center around the main station safer with a 30 km/h speed limit. The decision has led to mixed reactions - and comes at an explosive time.

In future, a 30 km/h speed limit will apply on various streets around Zurich main station. Bahnhofquai, Central, Gessnerallee, Sihlquai, Museumstrasse, Stampfenbachplatz - the city wants to reduce the speed limit on a total of 24 streets and squares.

The city argues on the grounds of safety: there have been more than 700 accidents in the HB area over the past five years, resulting in 14 accident blackspots. "The introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit will make the traffic situation clearer and safer," the press release states.

An argument that Zurich FDP cantonal councillor Marc Bourgeois cannot understand: "The measure does not lead to more safety, but only to more buses," he tells blue News. During the day, traffic around the main station comes to a standstill anyway, so the effect of a 30 km/h speed limit and the resulting increase in safety are correspondingly small.

30 km/h brings costs instead of safety

The safety argument is therefore only a pretext on the part of the city. "Where there are a lot of vehicles on the road, there are naturally more accidents," says Bourgeois. However, this does not mean that a disproportionately high number of accidents occur around the main station.

In addition, 30 km/h is also detrimental to safety in other places: "Anyone standing at the main station sees a blue light drive past every few minutes. These vehicles now also have to drive more slowly," explains Bourgeois. This applies in particular to the ambulance station Wache Zentrum, especially as Neumühlequai is also affected by the measure.

And last but not least, logistics journeys in particular will be affected by the increased time required at night, for example for deliveries to the ShopVille stores. Bourgeois' conclusion on the 30 km/h speed limit offensive at the main station is accordingly devastating: "During the day, it doesn't bring any additional safety and at night, it means additional costs for businesses and longer intervention times for paramedics and the fire department."

"This was long overdue"

Markus Knauss, Zurich councillor for the Green Party, had a very different take on the city's decision: "It was long overdue," he told blue News. Around 700,000 pedestrians travel around the main station every day, "so it's only logical to switch to a 30 km/h speed limit".

According to Knauss, it is important that all drivers are aware of the need to drive slowly around the station. Especially as there are always people behind the wheel who "step on the gas pedal for 100 meters".

Knauss also qualifies the argument that emergency services are slowed down: "The problem for the fire department and ambulance service is that there are too many cars on the roads in the city center." Permanent traffic jams lead to a much greater loss of time than "the few seconds you lose by driving at 30 km/h".

Explosive timing

The timing of the measure is explosive: on November 30, the canton of Zurich will vote on the mobility initiative. This would deprive the cities of Zurich and Winterthur of the authority to independently impose speed limits on the canton's main axes.

For Marc Bourgeois, it is clear: "The city wanted to implement the measure before the referendum." This is particularly evident from the fact that the decision was made around five and a half weeks before the referendum - with a four-week appeal period.

Markus Knauss, on the other hand, does not sense any political calculation: "The speed plan was already decided in December 2021, when the mobility initiative was not yet on the table." This concept is now being implemented step by step by the city administration. Knauss also assumes that the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit around the main station will be permissible even if the mobility initiative is adopted.

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