After strategy process

“Other solution”: Liezen residents do not want a bypass

Many people only know Liezen from driving through it

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

A final chapter is now to be written in the seemingly never-ending story of Liezen as a congestion city. Strategy meetings, in which all those affected had their say, ended with the - not entirely surprising - result: the district capital is not to get a bypass. Nevertheless, it was a big bang.

A traffic solution for the district capital has been the subject of heated debate for years. Especially on Saturdays and during the vacation season, many Liezen residents moan about the avalanches of traffic that come to a standstill in front of the traffic lights on the B 320. Last year, the state got the municipality on board, launched a participation process and asked all those affected: "Do we need a bypass?" For several months, the heads of representatives from all Liezen municipal council factions, neighboring municipalities, the region, the business community and the state's transport department were spinning.

On the Grimming Bridge, which opens in 2021: Deputy Governor Anton Lang (SPÖ)

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

"The clear result of the meetings is that the aim is not to create a bypass in the future, but to find a solution for the existing road and to expand the Ennstalstraße," announced SPÖ transport spokesman Anton Lang on Wednesday. The aim is also to bring more speed into the expansion timetable than would be possible with a bypass. The plan: the section of the B 320 through Liezen is to be widened - with four lanes in places and level crossings for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. The traffic lights will remain, but will be controlled by AI.

The agreement in the strategy process

• Making walking more attractive,
• an expansion of bicycle traffic,
• an improvement in road safety,
• the preservation of local recreation areas,
• protection of sensitive areas;

"I see great advantages to the version we are considering: on the one hand, it can be built more quickly than a bypass, which means faster relief for the people of Liezen. A bypass would take at least 15 years," says Andrea Heinrich, Mayor of Liezen.

On the other hand, no further areas would be sealed and the local recreation area and the Natura 2000 conservation area would remain intact. "I also expect a positive development for the Liezen economy," says the red city leader.

Criticism comes from the FPÖ, cheers from the Greens
"We will critically scrutinize the SPÖ's change of opinion and, above all, point out any disadvantages of the solution that has now been adopted. From the FPÖ's point of view, however, this step, which will certainly be the subject of controversial discussion, in no way solves the traffic problem in the Liezen district," saysFPÖ transport spokesman Albert Royer in response to the rejection.

"A big step: no land consumption for new roads. This is a welcome and, from a Green perspective, absolutely forward-looking development," says Green Party transport spokesperson Lambert Schönleitner.