Main roads should become living space in town centres

On Monday, an annual political ritual takes its course: the cantonal council deals with the construction program for state roads for the next few years, which the government council dutifully submits to it for information every autumn. The discussion revolves around the stage at which planned new roads are currently located.

Around the turn of the century, the Canton of Zurich planned to build dozens of bypasses. Most are not realized. They were canceled (Fällanden), failed in the project planning (Uster and Wetzikon) or are on the back burner (Grüningen and Eglisau).

But the canton has to renovate, expand, rebuild and adapt its existing road network to changing needs. In this respect, a far-reaching adaptation is taking place away from public attention, which will change the face of the street space in the city.

Perspective and paradigm shift

Construction Director Martin Neukom put new standards for state roads into effect in the summer. The building and economic directorates have developed them together with the involvement of representatives from the municipalities and regions. The Government Council issued the order in December 2020.

The documents speak of a paradigm shift. In the future, the street space will be viewed less as a thoroughfare: “As a public space, it no longer primarily serves the operational and functional requirements of motorized road traffic, but should take the needs of all users into account.” In the future, greater consideration should be given to the concerns of the communities.

A look back at 2008, when the standards were last adjusted, shows that it is actually about a fundamental change. The aim was to save costs in road construction. Therefore, the expansion standards were lowered; Projects should only contain elements that are absolutely necessary. The guidelines derived from this are also shaped from the engineer’s point of view to handle road traffic as efficiently as possible. Many town centers look accordingly.

“It’s about the change from traffic-oriented to settlement-oriented road construction,” says Construction Director Neukom in an interview. If you used to plan from the inside, starting from the road, to the outside, the entire street space is now considered from facade to facade. This can even mean involving private instigators if they so wish, without restricting their ownership rights. The overarching goal is to increase the quality of stay.

For many communities, the cantonal road is an important public space, often part of their identity, Neukom interjects. “We act in partnership and seek dialogue with the communities at an early stage, because they know the locality best,” says Raffael Noesberger, project developer in the canton’s civil engineering office. That gives better solutions. The most important goal is to find amicable solutions.

More trees for cooling

The new standards do not apply to Zurich and Winterthur because the big cities themselves are responsible for the supra-municipal roads in their area. In the rest of the canton, state roads have a total length of 1,340 kilometers. About two-thirds of these are outside of the settlement area. Little changes there.

The streets in town are crucial for the resident population. Three categories are now distinguished here: Sections with little connection to the street space, such as access roads through industrial zones. Then there are sections related to the street space, i.e. with numerous cross connections, and finally those with a central function.

But how is the new philosophy expressed? Martin Neukom names the trees as an example. Until now, these have often been part of the desired needs of the communities and had to be financed by them. In addition, some trees fell victim to functional considerations in the project planning.

The priorities are different here. In the face of climate change, trees would be important to reduce the summer heat in the streets, emphasizes Neukom. The canton can now also finance trees itself if they are part of the street space. Road construction tends to be a little more expensive, but in relation to the total costs that is of little consequence, says the construction director.

Norms, which have been applied quite strictly up to now, make perfect sense, says Noesberger. Now it’s a matter of using them more flexibly and using leeway. With today’s complex demands, there is no other way. “Planning is becoming more demanding, but also more exciting,” he says. communication is important. You also have to be able to convey a construction project, which is part of the requirement profile for project managers today.

Tempo 30 yes, but different

Road construction is also transport policy and therefore anything but conflict-free (see additional text). This also applies to 30 km/h on cantonal roads. The documents say relatively vaguely that the speed regime will be included in the considerations, adjustments will be checked and implemented if necessary.

The desire is increasingly coming from the communities, says Noesberger. The canton is not fundamentally closed to 30 km/h. In some cases, the introduction is even unavoidable in order to comply with noise protection legislation. However, it is important that the measure does not affect the flow of traffic and does not change the hierarchy of the streets. The primary aim is to make traffic more tolerable.

“We have to prevent traffic from diverting to the districts,” emphasizes Noesberger, “otherwise we wouldn’t have done our job well.” Therefore, a section with Tempo 30 on a cantonal road looks different than in the neighborhood streets. Zebra crossings, which are usually abolished there, remain in place. There are no staggered parking spaces or thresholds.

And what about the road article that was added to the canton’s constitution in 2017? Accordingly, a reduction in capacity on a state road must be compensated. Can this provision make it impossible to have a town through road that is compatible with settlement?

“I don’t think the constitutional article can be interpreted that narrowly,” Neukom replies. Different interests must be weighed against each other, otherwise federal law would be contradicted. But the construction director does not rule out that someone will lodge a complaint about this issue and that a judicial clarification will take place.

Consensus reform

the new standards were the reason to largely eliminate the interface between the Office for Transport in the Department of Economic Affairs and the Office for Civil Engineering in the Department of Construction. A delicate topic: In 2006, an open dispute broke out between the then government councilors Rita Fuhrer (SVP) and Dorothée Fierz (FDP) over who was responsible, which cost the latter the office.

The new change was developed by consensus. The Department of Economic Affairs remains responsible for strategic planning; the department entrusted with this has been renamed the Office for Mobility and is increasingly concerned with the consequences and opportunities of digitization for transport. For this, the civil engineering office takes over the project planning of the state roads from the beginning of the preliminary project.

According to GPV President Jörg Kündig, the municipalities, which now only have one point of contact with the canton, are reasonably satisfied. But there are still a few sticking points and both sides need to be willing to compromise.

Expectations are high, but at the same time there is skepticism. The umbrella organization for regional planning in Zurich and the surrounding area submitted 49 applications in the process. He shares the thrust, but insists that site-specific solutions are not prevented, and he calls for external mediation in the event of conflicts.

For the time being, the new standards are paper and need to be filled with life. It’s not just a matter of flipping a switch. It will be a while before the new principles become apparent and more trees are planted. Heat reduction in the street area has only been an issue for a few years and has not yet been incorporated into many ongoing projects.