Reduce noise: District Administrator orders speed limit 30 in Ernsthausen

From now on, a speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour will apply on the Bundesstraße 252 in the Ernsthausen through-route between 10 pm and 6 am. District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst issued a corresponding order after consultation with the authorities involved. The reason for this is a reduction in noise on the corresponding section of road.

The district administrator is thus complying with the request of the community of Burgwald, which, on the initiative of the local council of Ernsthausen, had submitted an application for a speed limit some time ago to protect the residents from noise. "Since a speed limit - even if it is intended to protect the population - is a sensitive intervention in road traffic, the conditions in the local thoroughfare were first analysed," District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst explains the procedure. A speed measurement as well as a noise calculation by the road construction authority Hessen Mobil showed that the reduction of the permissible maximum speed would lead to a noticeable reduction in noise emissions. Moreover, by exceeding the threshold values at night, as evidenced by the study, the legal requirements for ordering the speed limit are also fulfilled.

Together with the Waldeck-Frankenberg police department, Hessen Mobil and the municipality of Burgwald, District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst made the decision to introduce the speed limit. The Regional Council of Kassel has also approved the decision. In the 26th calendar week, the corresponding signage will be installed in the village thoroughfare; the speed limit will then apply immediately.

"Speed limits like these must always be not only effective and necessary, but also appropriate," van der Horst says, explaining the decision to take this step. "The data from the surveys paint a clear picture in this case, which is why we decided to take this step in agreement with the other authorities involved."