The new school year begins in Saxony on Monday, 11 August. For many children, this is a new stage in their lives - the first day of school. To ensure that they can complete this safely, the City of Chemnitz's Traffic and Civil Engineering Department is constantly working with the road construction authority, traffic planning, the education authority, the public order office, the Chemnitz police department, Chemnitz transport companies and the traffic watchdog on suggestions and changes to eliminate potential danger spots and road defects. The safety of the youngest road users is particularly important to the city of Chemnitz. For this reason, extensive measures to improve road safety were also implemented in the past school year.
An overview of the measures implemented:
1. 30 km/h speed limit - more safety in front of schools
The speed limit was reduced to 30 km/h at several sensitive locations in the city centre in order to increase drivers' awareness and enable children to cross safely:
- Weststraße primary school: Reichsstraße/Weststraße,
- Harthau primary school: Annaberger Straße,
- Waldorf School Association Chemnitz e.V.: Bornaer Straße.
2. new regulations for more clarity and less traffic chaos
- Glösa primary school: Removal of the car parks to create clearer lines of sight and more space for pupils to move around,
- Pablo Neruda primary school: marking of a restricted area on Hoffmannstraße to improve visibility at the footpath projection,
- Cooperation school: creation of specially marked parent parking spaces to equalise delivery traffic on Brauhausstraße.
- "Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi" support centre: Clear parking regulations in the turning area for better orientation and avoidance of dangerous situations.
- Reichenhain primary school: Permanent introduction of one-way traffic regulations on Genossenschaftsweg/Am Hang to calm traffic and optimise traffic flow.
3. visual measures to remind drivers of the 30 km/h speed limit
- In the 30 km/h zone on Zöllnerstraße, pictograms have been placed on the carriageway to draw road users' attention to the speed limit - a clear signal for greater consideration.
Planned for the coming year:
- Improved crossing at the DPFA-Regenbogenschule: The city of Chemnitz is currently finalising the installation of bollards. The aim of this measure is to significantly increase the safety of the crossing and at the same time prevent damage caused by unauthorised crossing.
- In the 30 km/h zone on Lichtenauer Straße, pictograms are also to be applied to the carriageway to indicate the speed limit.
- On Waldenburger Straße, in the immediate vicinity of the Friedrich August III secondary school, the speed limit will be reduced to 30 kilometres per hour.
The Chemnitz Police Department and the City of Chemnitz Public Order Office will increase their monitoring of moving and stationary traffic at the start of the school year. The volunteer members of Verkehrswacht Chemnitz e. V. will also be on site with various campaigns to ensure that Chemnitz children are safe on their way to school.
Appeal to all road users
At the start of the school year, the city of Chemnitz is appealing to all drivers to drive carefully, with foresight and at an appropriate speed, especially in the vicinity of schools. Children are not small adults - they often react unpredictably. Consideration and attention save lives. Further information and tips on school road safety can be found on the City of Chemnitz website at www.chemnitz.de/schulweg