09/2024: Experience school streets!

As part of the European Mobility Week (EMW) (16.-20.09.2024), the city of Aachen set up school streets at four elementary school as part of an event.

Early in the morning, cars bringing children to and from school often create dangerous situations. The large number of cars that rush in front of schools almost simultaneously under time pressure and sometimes make reckless U-turns pose a massive risk to children and young people.

As part of the EMW, the city of Aachen gathered exemplary findings at the four elementary school

• GGS Am Höfling,
• GGS Brühlstraße,
• KGS Hanbruch,
• KGS Höfchensweg

At these pilot schools, the city went through the process of setting up a school street for the first time, as required by road traffic law.

She also collected valuable feedback from children, parents, teachers and school staff as well as local residents.

She summarized these findings and presented them to the Mobility Committee for a decision at its meeting on 16.01.2025.

The activities at KGS Hanbruch are a good example: the children actively appropriated the street space. The school management supported them in this and invited them from 7.30 a.m. to

• Monday: School song singing
• Tuesday: "old games" (Gummitwist, jumping rope etc.)
• Wednesday: Chalk challenge
• Thursday: Scooter course
• Friday: badminton

Many children arrived well before the start of lessons to play together - some of them on inline skates and with street shoes in their luggage for the subsequent lesson.

Parents also stayed longer for a chat at the school gate and watched the colorful goings-on.

The event therefore had a major social effect as well as a traffic-related one.

The event was only possible because many people supported it.

Thanks to the

• Students who accepted the opportunities and filled them with life
• School administrators and teachers who provided support on site,
• energetic parents,
• residents and much more.

The Department of Mobility and Transport (FB68) would also like to thank its colleagues

• Department of Safety and Order (FB32) to the stationary traffic enforcement officers for penalizing people who park illegally at parents' bus stops,
• Central contact point (FB32) for major events and security concepts, special uses for support with event approval,
• Department of Youth and Schools (FB 45) as an interface to the schools,
• Aachener Stadtbetrieb for delivery/removal and lending of bulky materials,
• Traffic educators from the police and
• Verkehrswacht Aachen for its presence on site.

Background information on the event