The SVP and the FDP rejected the proposal. The SVP criticized the thrust of what was perceived as a one-way structure scheme: “It only repeatedly went against the car,” said Roger Bartholdi, adding among other things “speed reduction, driving restrictions and parking spaces.” “.
For the FDP, the city has been slow and paralyzed by sanctions, as said by Catherine Pauli. Among other things, he criticized the unilateral termination of the historic parking space agreement by the Left-Green side. The Liberals announced at the start of the debate that they would hold a referendum.
The Left-Green side is satisfied with the outcome of the arguments that lasted a little over ten hours on Wednesday and Friday. Olivia Romanelli (AL) said the structure plan represented a “departure from the extreme preference for automation”. People in Zurich want fewer cars, but more space, more greenery, more meeting places. “No one wants a parking space on Münsterhof.”
Marcus Knauss (Greens) spoke of a concerted program by Red-Green for sustainable transportation. For SP, the structure plan is a prerequisite for the livable and ecological city of the future, as Davy Graf said.
Possible reduction of parking spaces in the city center
With the new traffic structure plan of the city of Zurich, the historic parking space agreement from 1996 will be repealed. In the city of Zurich, parking lots that are no longer above ground will no longer have to be compensated underground.
The SP’s request now states that “above-ground parking spaces will be reduced overall” in the city center and in areas close to the city. Traffic areas that would be free are to be redesigned into pedestrian, bicycle, green or lounge areas, urban space to be upgraded in such a way.
The AL and the Greens would have preferred to leave the settlement altogether and removed the entire section from the structure plan. However, as he remained in the minority, he eventually went on the SP’s proposal.
The FDP, GLP and EVP would have accepted a maximum reduction of ten percent in parking spaces, as requested by the city council – if ten percent of the parking spaces were electrified. Meanwhile, the SVP insisted on preserving all the parking spots.
Veil, Tempo 30 and Netto-Nal
The city council has also anchored in the structure plan that a network of preferred cycle routes of at least 50 kilometers in length will be built by 2030. These should also be attractive to inexperienced cyclists; Because they are free from motorized personal traffic and are generally entitled to the right of way when crossing.
This means that the popular initiative “Safe Velorouten für Zurich” adopted in September 2020 will be included in the structure plan. A majority of the council decided that Zurich would eventually become a cycling city. Bike trails will no longer start anywhere and then stop. On the other hand, for SVP and FDP, this would have been sufficient if only the original objective of the initiative was retained.
At the request of the left-green side, the composition plan now includes, among other things, that urban mobility should be geared toward the climate protection goal of net zero greenhouse gases by 2030 and also be a core objective of Tempo 30 Roads.
