New speed limits in Wiesbaden: Less noise, but more traffic jams?

New speed limits in Wiesbaden: Less noise, but more traffic jams?

The discussion about the new speed limits and the conversion of the traffic lights in Wiesbaden have been causing heated minds since mid -August. On the first ring, the permissible maximum speed was reduced to 40 km/h, while speed restrictions of 30 or 40 km/h apply in residential areas. The head of traffic Andreas Kowol (Greens) emphasizes that these measures aim to reduce the noise in the city significantly due to calculations by the Hessian Environment Agency (HLNUG). While some citizens welcome the measures, many drivers are anything but enthusiastic about the new regulations.

A central topic in the discussions is the not immediately adapted of the traffic lights that have to be converted to the new speed boundaries. Readers are critical and complain that the introduction of the new speed specifications and the conversion of the traffic lights were not meaningfully coordinated. A leading concern is the future of the so -called “green waves”, which could then no longer work as usual. A reader, Peter, expresses: "You could have done the reprogramming and then set up the signs."

Why the changeover stalls

The traffic department reacted to the criticism and explained that the signage has already been carried out in order to optimally use the existing resources. Due to "of capacity and organizational reasons at the executing companies", the signs could be set up before the technical changes were carried out at the traffic lights. The latter should now be carried out on a total of 18 affected light signal systems by the end of October 2024. Other optimization points that have occurred recently are taken into account.

The hope of restoring the green waves remains, whereby the department emphasizes that the traffic light circuits can be improved, but cannot guarantee that these work under all circumstances. "Green waves cannot always be guaranteed always and anywhere," said the statement. This means that the traffic light circuit is adjusted if necessary on heavily frequented routes, so that overloaded areas are given priority.

technical challenges in traffic light control

When implementing the new speed limit, technical aspects must also be taken into account. Each traffic light control requires an individual check to ensure that the systems work correctly. This is done for reasons of security and effectiveness, because every intersection uses specific detector values. Differences in traffic, in particular through numerous construction work, also lead to challenges in the exact programming of the traffic lights. The traffic department explains that such parameters must also be adjusted at the location in order to achieve the best results.

The introduction of the environmental track, which prevented a diesel driving ban, was only made possible by the Digi-V technology. This allowed it to reduce lanes in both directions without a traffic collapse. Traffic planner emphasize the importance of Digi-V as a flexible tool that must be continuously developed. Measures to regulate the traffic flow are now being increased to avoid traffic jams and to improve the situation for drivers.