Dangerous traffic situation at the Ökihof

Dangerous, and prone to traffic jams: the traffic regime at the Ökihof in Zug has been widely criticised. A new access road should alleviate the situation.

‘The traffic routing there is a disaster.’ The verdict of a Google reviewer on the Ökihof (waste disposal centre) on the Industriestrasse in Zug, which opened in December 2022, is harsh. And it is not the only critical comment on this topic to be found among the reviews. There is repeated talk of traffic jams as far as the Industriestrasse, an unclear parking situation and correspondingly long waiting times for waste disposal. Nevertheless, the ‘friendly and attentive staff’ and the large, modern waste disposal facility are repeatedly mentioned in a positive light.

The traffic regime at the Ökihof has also become a political issue. Mariann Hegglin from the Mitte party in Zug (Centre party) submitted an interpellation to the municipal council (Grosse Gemeinderat) in March. She sees the fact that vehicles have to reverse out of the car parking spaces as a safety problem for both pedestrians and drivers.

‘From my own observations and reports from the public, it is noticeable that this often results in dangerous situations and damage to car bodywork,’ she writes. In addition, the traffic flow of incoming motorists regularly comes to a standstill, especially when there is a lot going on. Her conclusion echoes - in a somewhat more nuanced tone - the criticism on Google: ‘It seems that the safety aspect was severely neglected when planning the parking bays.’

The Ökihof has been given a new traffic routing                 Photo: Matthias Jurt
Interpellant Mariann Hegglin                     Photo: zvg
Traffic is now channelled through the Ökihof in two lanes              Sketch: City of Zug

New access road should improve the situation
The city of Zug has also noticed that not everything is running smoothly at the Ökihof. ‘The system regularly reaches its limits’, especially during the rush hours on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, says the city council's response to the interpellation. ‘Although there are always one or two parking spaces free, manoeuvring in and out of these spaces impedes the flow of traffic and leads to tailbacks.’ The car park situation was therefore reviewed in February and the traffic concept has since been adapted.

The entrance to the site is now at the eastern end of the Ökihof and no longer immediately after the building housing the Zuger Brockenhaus, the Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft Zug (GGZ) and ‘Laden 2’. As a result, traffic is channelled through the Ökihof in two lanes, which halves the number of disruptions caused by parking manoeuvres, as the city council writes.

But that’s not the only adjustment. According to the interpellation, traffic direction services will be deployed more often during the rush hours. And motorists and pedestrians are being made aware of the situation through posters calling for ‘more attention and mutual consideration’. Furthermore, the parking spaces have been widened to between 2.8 metres and more than 3 metres, at the expense of four parking spaces. And as a final measure, the bicycle parking bays will be provided with additional markings.

Angled car spaces not feasible
The situation will now be monitored further, writes the city council. ‘If these measures are not sufficient, further measures such as access restrictions with barriers or the marking of pedestrian paths along the parking bays can be considered.’ There is, however, no question of fundamentally rethinking the car park concept. ‘The parking regime with right-angled and reverse parking will be retained, as it offers the best space efficiency,’ it says. Changing the parking system would mean removing a whole series of parking spaces, and would thereby reduce the capacity of the site too much. Angled parking would also not be feasible due to the additional length of the individual parking bays.

The changes have been well received by users, and the Google community has also already taken note of them. ‘Parallel parking at last,’ said someone happily in the latest review, awarding the new arrangement five stars. And one reader said to the Zuger Zeitung newspaper: ‘Bravo, signs and wonders still occur.’