At Lendkai and Grieskai

Experts call for another promenade for Graz

This is what the promenade could look like: View from the main bridge along the quay towards the south (rendering)(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Experts want to turn Graz's Lendkai and Grieskai between the Kunsthaus and Entenplatz into a promenade and close off through traffic for this "opportunity of the century". Well-known local businesses support the project. 

"Why are we leaving one of the prime areas of Graz's city center to through traffic?" asks Karl Reiter. The traffic expert is referring to the Lendkai and Grieskai around the main bridge in Graz. Together with traffic planner Karl-Heinz Posch, he has therefore developed a concept for traffic calming in the area between the Kunsthaus and Entenplatz under the title "Century Opportunity" - taking Slovenia's Ljubljana as an example. Just a few years ago, a section of the waterfront promenade there was successfully transformed into a car-free promenade.

Pedestrian zone between the Kunsthaus and Entenplatz
So what is your plan for Graz? Coming from the north, Lendkai should only be accessible as far as the Kunsthaus underground garage, while Grieskai should be accessible from the south as far as the Weitzer garage on Entenplatz. The area in between, including Tegethoffbrücke, is to become a pedestrian zone. The traffic planners also want to open up the Kastner underpass on the other side of the Mur for bicycles, making the Kaiser-Franz-Josef Kai even more attractive for pedestrians.

Posch and Reiter's concept at a glance(Bild: KH Posch)

Around 90 parking spaces would fall victim to this plan, but the two planners do not see this as a problem, because: "Our counts in the five adjacent parking garages (Andreas-Hofer-Platz, Kastner, Mariahilferplatz, Kunsthaus and Weitzer) have shown that they are only 63 percent full on average and could therefore easily cover the demand," explains Posch. 

Locks no longer open after current construction site
And where will the through traffic shift to? "Due to the current construction of the streetcar relief route, it is already flowing on alternative routes anyway. That's why this is an opportunity of the century, because once the floodgates are open again, it won't be possible to close them so quickly," says Posch. The experiences from Ljubljana and Mariahilferstrasse in Vienna also prove: "The feared congestion on the alternative routes did not occur after the pedestrian zones were built."

Karl-Heinz Posch (right) and Karl Reiter(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Local business people are also enthusiastic about the plan: "Implementation would be a clear benefit for the local quality of life. And what is good for the quality of life is also good for the economy," say Florian Weitzer and Harald Fischer (Tribeka). Werner Schrempf, head of La Strada, is also one of the supporters.

Implementation "would not be a mega project"
Only the politicians have been rather hesitant so far: "We hope that we can inspire the population with our idea and thus build up pressure to make use of this opportunity of the century," say the two planners. Their suggestion is to implement the idea provisionally for the time being to see how well the changes are accepted and only then to implement permanent structural measures. Posch and Reiter do not see the financing as a major problem: "This would not be a mega project, we are assuming a necessary investment of several hundred thousand euros."

You can find all information about the project here.