Mayor Schwenke was "on site" in the Carl-Ulrich estate and Tempelsee

The traffic situation, parking, the new bus timetable and the condition of roads and sidewalks are the topics that concern residents in the Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung and Tempelsee: On September 8, almost 50 residents of the Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung and Tempelsee came together in the auditorium of the Waldschule Tempelsee. They accepted the invitation of Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke to the regular "OB vor Ort" (Lord Mayor on site) question and answer session held in various parts of the city. As usual, the Lord Mayor had a team from various offices with him to answer questions directly and comment on problems.

"The goal is a financially halfway normal city"

"Offenbach is a poor city" - with this statement, the Lord Mayor referred to the city's financial situation and explained his commitment to economic development. The background to the financial situation is the loss of industrial jobs in the 1990s and 2000s. At that time, 80 percent of jobs in Offenbach's industrial sector were lost, accounting for 40 percent of all jobs in Offenbach. "The financial situation makes almost everything more difficult and is therefore our city's biggest problem," emphasized Lord Mayor Schwenke. His vision for the city is for Offenbach to become a "financially halfway normal city". Three things are important for this: economic development, an economical administration and distributing the costs of social legislation in such a way that the federal and state governments bear the majority of the costs and not the local authorities. Offenbach is therefore involved, for example, in the alliance "For the dignity of our cities". When it comes to economic development, for example, the aim is to keep the companies already based in the city. Schwenke cited numerous examples where this has worked. But of course it is also about creating the conditions for new companies to settle here. "It is important for the city to attract companies from various sectors to Offenbach. Because we need jobs for both highly and low-skilled workers," emphasized the mayor. The city has recently achieved some successes in this regard: The valve manufacturer Samson with 2,000 jobs and the biotech company "BioSpring" will settle in the new Offenbach Innovation Campus in the east of the city. The creative industries are also important for Offenbach, with various creative agencies based in Nordend and the new building at the harbor will provide the Hochschule für Gestaltung with a new location.

Other key issues of city policy for the Lord Mayor include affordable housing and a good infrastructure, for example through the extensive school building renovations, the digital control of road traffic currently under construction, the expansion of the cycling network and the city's demand to strengthen rail transport via a southern bypass, an eastern bypass and a streetcar connection between Oberrad and Fechenheim. The expansion of fiber optics is also making progress.

The development of the city center is of considerable importance for the image people have of Offenbach. The city center future concept, which creates other reasons to come to the city center in addition to shopping, has already won several awards. The city center future concept includes the "Station Mitte" project, which provides for the relocation of the city library to the city center. The "Station Mitte" project won the 2021 Municipal Prize of the State of Hesse - it was rated as the best idea for upgrading city centers in the whole of Hesse.

The question and answer session

The first topic to be addressed was the new bus timetable in Offenbach, which came into effect in July. The Lord Mayor explained to those present the unscheduled timetable change and its necessity due to the city's current budget situation and the associated concept for adhering to the funding cap for local public transport. In this context, the mayor and his team drew attention to the upcoming citizens' event on the local transport plan on October 6 and invited citizens to attend. Further information can be found at www.offenbach.de/nahverkehrsplan. (opens in a new tab)

This was followed by questions and criticism about the tense parking situation in the Carl-Ulrich-Siedlung. Blocked driveways in Waldstraße are the biggest problem - especially in the evenings and at weekends. Some residents are then unable to access their own property or escape routes are blocked. Mayor Schwenke emphasized that the city is dependent on information from residents in these cases: "The public order office is looking into the matter. The best thing to do is to use the city's defect reporter or call the city police directly." The defect reporter can be found at www.offenbach.de/maengelmelder (opens in a new tab). The city receives thousands of such reports every year, so the city has to focus on places with the most complaints. At the same time, Jan Schmidbauer from the road traffic authority points out: "If we receive a tip-off, we investigate the matter. In the case of parked-up driveways, a permanent solution is also possible via boundary markings." Frank Weber from the public order office confirms that the problem is nothing new: "We are aware of this section of road as a priority, and the complaints are currently increasing again. We will now carry out more checks there. If entrances are still blocked, the city police can be called so that someone can come by."

The discussion continued with the high volume of traffic and speeding on Brunnenweg in Tempelsee. The increase in traffic can be seen everywhere and is a particular burden on the youngest children on their way to Waldschule. However, as Brunnenweg is a main road, traffic is to be expected on a permanent basis. This is also due to the inter-regional traffic. It is therefore also very difficult to set up a 30 km/h zone there, as one participant suggested during the question and answer session. The road traffic regulations, a federal law, would have to be changed for this. It stipulates a speed limit of 50 km/h for main roads. Jan Schmidbauer explained that, according to data collected by the city, most drivers on Brunnenweg adhere to the speed limit or even drive slower. Nevertheless, Schmidbauer suggested hanging a side radar on the road in order to record the volume of traffic again and then assess it.

The central island at the town hall was also discussed. Advertising boards erected there obstruct the view of traffic and some kerbs make it difficult to cross the road due to their height - especially for people with disabilities. The city administration team will address these issues immediately after the event. The advertising boards are repositioned and the kerbs are checked by the Office for Mobility and further measures are initiated. At the same time, Ivonne Gerdts, Head of the Office for Mobility, points out that defects of this kind should always be reported via the city's defect reporting system.

The discussion also turned to the cycle paths in the city. On the one hand, it was about the cycle lanes, which need to be developed further in the future, but also about the expansion and, above all, safety of cycle paths and sidewalks. Potholes on roads and sidewalks were criticized, which should also be submitted to the city via the defect report. The new smart traffic light circuits, which will be readjusted after an initial test phase, were also discussed.

Finally, Mayor Schwenke provided an update on the fiber optic expansion and the resulting construction sites in the city. The city is monitoring the construction work in principle, but requests immediate notification to baustellen-halteverboteoffenbachde if an unsecured construction site is spotted. This will then be checked. The city provides information on stopping restrictions, road and footpath closures at www.offenbach.de/baustellen. (opens in a new tab)

Further information:

OB on site - Dates and FAQ: www.offenbach.de/obvo (opens in a new tab)