We therefore asked each of the representative clubs how they see the traffic in the city center and how they will solve it in the future. The question is: How should the city solve traffic calming downtown and should the city solve it at all in your opinion? Is the maximum speed limit of 30 km/h at least in the city center a solution? What about greater support for bicycle transport, pedestrian transport?

We sort answers by the time they arrive at our editorial office. Marek Vávra (YES) did not answer the question.

Petr Židek (ODS)

Liberec is specific in its fragmentation compared to other cities in the republic. Traffic calming should always be justified. The question is do you want to slow it down or calm it down, i.e. limit it. If you look at the traffic today in the center of Liberec, I see no reason to slow down. Considering the traffic density, the average vehicle speed in the center of Liberec is substantially lower than the stated 30 km/h. If we’re talking about calming, not slowing down, it’s about directing the flow of traffic. If you want to quiet a certain street which de facto means closing it to car traffic, that means you have to divert traffic on it. You must subordinate detours to this plan. But this means that because of this there will be an increase in traffic load elsewhere. We have a fairly detailed traffic study available in the city, which basically says that if the inner city ring road isn’t built, it’s unrealistic to consider closing the city center. Greater support for cycling and foot traffic is certain, but we are not Hradec or Pardubice, which are flat and not everyone is physically equipped to pedal Klášterní, Vítězná or Pražská. I support shared bikes or scooters, but on condition that the city doesn’t subsidize them. It’s kind of a business and if someone wants to run it in the city, I support the opportunity, but not with the city’s money.

Anna Kširová (Liberec open to people)

“Kids now don’t come out at all. We’re forever flying around on our bikes or smelling michuda in a patch. They don’t stick their noses out.”

Does this sound familiar? Like your childhood versus kids now? The problem, of course, is not that today’s children are different. The world that formed them was different. And just letting the kids go out with their friends or sending them to school alone – few have the courage to do this these days.

The world is not dangerous for children because there are thugs on the streets who want to steal them or stuff them with dope candy. The main problem is that the roads have become much more dangerous as the people driving the cars are getting faster and denser. “There are too many cars, we can’t fit any cars in the city,” the city’s police director told us at a board meeting in February.

We deprive street children of freedom and movement. A lot of kids go to school these days because their parents are afraid to let them go alone, lest they get hit by… that’s right, a car. So the problem cycle.

Restricting cars in the form of “thirty” everywhere off main roads, or more regulating where cars can go, benefits us all. We all need it to be less comfortable driving a car and, conversely, more convenient, safer and more pleasant to move “on our own” or on public transport. Most importantly, it means more health for all of us. Unpleasant noise (which increases the risk of dementia, among other things), air pollution (which increases, for example, the risk of heart attack or lung cancer) and the risk of injury from traffic accidents will be reduced. Instead, there will be healthier movement in a more enjoyable environment. The situation will also improve for those who only need to go by car: traffic will be quieter and smoother.

Svatopluk Holata (SPD)

Questions are like wine. What Pepík imagines with this term may not match Manka’s. After all, it is necessary to complete the traffic in Liberec! Limiting the speed to 30 km/h means slow driving, a buildup of not only cars, and this road will not lead to quietness, but instead congestion and thereby increase emissions, noise and traffic risk. The city profile is not optimal for the wider introduction of bicycle transit, and pedestrian transit, which should have stepped on the “world solution” 50 years ago, was completely ignored by someone and not the SPD. We propose to increase the capacity of all roads not only in the center, but also outside, so that they can safely accommodate all types of traffic.

Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayor for LK)

Liberec has its own strategic plan for sustainable mobility, which the council approved in a previous election period. This document contains phased steps leading to a gradual easing of traffic in the city center, with the plans for the reconstruction of Sokolská Street and the construction of Nové Pastýřské as examples of such easing. Development of so-called inner-city circuits must also be carried out in stages. Only after the completion of the main buildings in this circle can the gradual pacification of the city center begin. For example, in Sokolské náměstí or in Železná and Dr. E. Benes.

Calming traffic in the center is undoubtedly a trend that all European cities pay attention to during its development. Our concept assumes that places in the center are also accessible for individual car transportation. For residents, traders. At the same time, we will pay more attention to other modes of transport, namely pedestrians and cyclists. The sustainable mobility plan also includes appropriately proposed development measures (phases) to support bicycle and pedestrian transport.

If I were to give a specific example of a building or modification that would significantly help the traffic population of Liberec in the coming months, it would be, for example, the reconstruction of the Sokolská street from the small square to Ambiente, P + R Pastýřská, Tržní náměstí, Vítězná, but also the embankment at the regional office and the parking garage in the lower center.

Regarding speed reduction, I believe that such interventions and changes should be made in a sensitive and reasonable manner. I can imagine that in any reasonable place, i.e. in a quieter part of town and in a residential area, it might happen. On the other hand, the current speed must be maintained on city streets as part of the traffic flow.

Jan Hruska (Pirate)

The city center is congested with cars and some of the intersections are far from smooth during rush hour. Therefore, cities should create acceptable alternatives – improve the quality of public transport, strengthen connections, introduce intelligent traffic management elements so that buses do not wait in traffic jams or take into account pedestrians, strollers, wheelchair users, cyclists who already on the road. initial transportation construction planning. Less than two years ago, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans were drawn up for Liberec and Jablonec. It contains a series of concrete steps to develop sustainably denser traffic. The main points were the construction of Nová Pastýřské as part of a city circuit and the follow-up measures that would not lead cars to other unsuitable routes. Then an area will be opened for calm traffic from Šaldovo to Sokolovské náměstí. In connection with the reconstruction of the dam, we are working to pacify the Zvolenská road. In bicycle transport, the expansion and modification of the bicycle path along Nisa, from Vratislavia to Pavlovice, is key. Managing them, especially in the city center, would require considerable effort, but without this backbone lane, any other bike path would metaphorically be deadlocked. Pirates support building a new bicycle path from Liberec to Hodkovice. Reducing the speed limit to 30 km/h is not a problem today. Where there will be a need to reduce the number of cars, nowadays it is often even impossible to drive faster, due to air and noise pollution, the flow of traffic has a far greater influence than speed itself. The situation is different in residential areas, where speed reductions have been implemented in several places.