Lake Zurich municipality removes pedestrian crossings - citizens successfully defend themselves

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• The municipality of Thalwil ZH is redesigning an important road. Among other things, it has been declared a 30 km/h zone.
• According to federal regulations, there are no pedestrian crossings in 30 km/h zones.
• For this reason, the pedestrian crossings on the road were removed.
• Two mothers of school-age children then started a petition.
• This is because the road is very busy and confusing. There is a school nearby.
• The municipality gave in and the cantonal police approved an application to re-mark the road with the stripes.

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Gotthardstrasse is located in the middle of a busy area in the center of Thalwil ZH. There are numerous stores here, and there is also a school nearby. The road is currently undergoing reconstruction work, which is due to continue until late summer.

As part of this, the road will be converted into a 30 km/h zone. A federal requirement stipulates that there should be no pedestrian crossings in such zones, so the municipality had them removed from Gotthardstrasse - with unexpected consequences.

The removal of the traffic aids for pedestrians resulted in a loud public protest, which the municipality has now given in to: The pedestrian crossings have been re-marked, as reported by the "Tages-Anzeiger " newspaper.

Concerned mothers collected signatures

The matter was initiated by two concerned mothers of school-age children. They started a petition for which they were able to collect 853 signatures last February.

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This is because Gotthardstrasse is a confusing traffic spot and children could easily lose sight of the road, as municipal engineer Andy Fellmann admitted to the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.

Pedestrian crossing back for the start of school

In addition to cars, there are also many buses and bicycles on the road. A clearly marked crossing would make it easier for children to cross the road safely. "From an adult perspective, we probably underestimated the complexity," says Fellmann.

As it is possible to approve pedestrian crossings in 30 km/h zones if people on foot have special right-of-way requirements, the municipality submitted an application to the cantonal police after the initiators had been persuaded.

This was finally approved. Last Wednesday, the pedestrian crossings were re-marked. The timing is good: the new school year starts in Thalwil next Monday.