Next public meeting on January 19th
Vienna (OTS/RK) – The local council committee for petitions met in a public meeting today, Friday, in the Vienna City Hall. There were three petitions on the agenda.
Petition “More nature in the Seestadt!”
Petition submitter Katarina Rimanóczy came accompanied by the local council committee and explained the purpose of the petition. She has been living in Seestadt with her family since 2014, making her one of the first residents in Seestadt’s pioneering quarter. What she and the members of the “SeeStadtgrün” association are missing is green in people’s main field of vision and not just in side streets. In their opinion, the economical green space design of the streets of the pioneer quarter does not fit in with an international showcase project for climate protection, like the Seestadt should be. In the pioneer quarter, more than 8,000 square meters of public space are dedicated to green spaces, but are designed as “dust areas”. These are mostly highly compacted gravel areas, which count as green space in statistics, but in reality no plants grow there. 600 square meters of this area were greened by the association on a private initiative and are currently being looked after by the association, but this cannot be financed in the long term and not for the entire area. The areas in the Seestadt that are dedicated to greening should actually be landscaped by the City of Vienna with meadows, flowers, perennials, grasses, bushes, green seating areas and other trees in order to achieve a sustainable improvement of the entire district. This transformation probably cannot happen overnight; according to the petitioners, a first step would be a commitment by the City of Vienna to the sustainable greening of the Seestadt.
Petition “Sieveringer Straße: Tempo 30”
Petition submitter Manuela Stanek presented the concern to the local council committee and described the situation in the area from Sieveringer Straße 168 (“Sieveringer Enge”) to house number 275. For several years now, there has been an increased volume of traffic in this section of Sieveringer Straße, as the Höhenstraße is increasingly used . In the narrow area, pedestrians have to move in single file, and parents with strollers are forced to move onto the road, which would lead to dangerous situations. The section can only be driven by one car at a time, which is regulated by a signal light. According to your observations, drivers would rather accelerate instead of slowing down in order to quickly overcome this oncoming traffic. The children living on the street, neighbors as well as the students at the school in the sky on their way to school and walkers are at increased risk. In recent years there have been various accidents and a lot of damage to parked cars because drivers are no longer able to stop in time in unexpected traffic situations or oncoming traffic due to increased speed. Stanek appealed for the speed limit to be lowered “before an accident with possibly fatal consequences occurs.”
Petition “NO to the Handelskai reversal loop / Dr. Natterer Gasse / Engerthstraße AND NO to the planned extension of TRAM LINE 18 from the 3rd district to the 2nd district.”
Petition submitter Helga Haas came accompanied by the local council committee and explained the issue. Regarding the extension of tram line 18, Haas said that the residential area was already well served by bus route 77A; In addition, the extension of tram line 18 will, according to plan, “cut through” the important local recreation area Grüner Prater. The planning would include the reverse loop of the 18er via Handelskai, Dr.-Natterer-Gasse, Engerthstrasse and the return to Schlachthausgasse. The length of the planned reversal loop of around 650 meters does not seem plausible, said Haas. According to the plan, in the “short Dr.-Natterer-Gasse that is narrow because of tall residential buildings, the tram should go around the curve twice, which, in the opinion of the petition submitters, no tram, no matter how modern, could achieve with little noise. This would lead to high levels of noise pollution for residents in the alley during operating hours. In addition, almost all of the parking spaces that currently exist would be eliminated. Therefore, this reversal loop should be replanned and relocated to the Ernst Happel Stadium stop, to the square between Ernst Happel Stadium and the U2, to the Engerthstrasse and Olympiaplatz intersection, to the new sports arena or routed directly around the Stadium Center.
Session available to stream
A recording of today’s meeting will soon be available online at www.petitionen.wien.gv.at available at the link to the respective petition in a media library. The next public meeting of the Petitions Committee is expected to take place on January 19, 2024 in the town hall.
Petitions Committee since 2013
The Petitions Committee has existed since 2013. It is made up of local councilors from all factions represented in the Vienna City Council. Regardless of their citizenship, Viennese people who have reached the age of 16 have the opportunity to bring their concerns to the Petitions Committee. These will be discussed in the committee if there are 500 or more supporters. All petitions submitted so far are below www.petitionen.wien.gv.at available. Online petitions (ID Austria required) can also be supported or submitted there. (End) not
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