Farewell to the green badge - from March at least in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Pfinztal and Schramberg. Other places will follow. The air in the southwest has gotten better. But in some places there are still environmental zones.
Karlsruhe (dpa / lsw) - Free travel for older cars too: From March there will be no more environmental zones in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Pfinztal and Schramberg (Rottweil district). Green stickers for entering these places are no longer necessary. Immission measurements have shown that the air quality has improved, according to the Ministry of Transport. The restrictions are therefore lifted.
The environmental zones in Wendlingen am Neckar (Esslingen district), Schwäbisch Gmünd (Ostalb district), Ilsfeld (Heilbronn district) and Urbach (Rems-Murr district) will probably also be passé from May.
In the administrative district of Tübingen, the environmental zone in Balingen was lifted in November. "Another lifting is currently not in preparation in the administrative district of Tübingen," says the authority. There are also environmental zones in the administrative district in Reutlingen, Tübingen and Ulm.
In Ludwigsburg, the limit for nitrogen dioxide (40 micrograms) was undershot last year - but for the first time and only very slightly, so that according to the Stuttgart regional council there is currently no reason to abolish the environmental zone. The two Stuttgart environmental zones also continue to exist. The authority regularly checks which environmental zones are no longer necessary.
There is also a truck ban on Reinhold-Frank-Strasse in Karlsruhe until the end of June. The city is also examining a further restriction for reasons of noise protection.
Environmental zones were set up because of what were once high pollution levels. Only vehicles that comply with certain emission standards are allowed to drive into them. There are stickers for this - depending on the required values in the colors red, yellow and green, which are attached to the windshield.
Nationwide, 2022 pollutant limit values were observed everywhere for the first time. Where the limit value has only recently been undercut, the environmental zones remain in force until the trend has clearly stabilized.
