Luleå narrows wide streets in residential areas to increase traffic safety. This means that residents are responsible for snow removal and grass cutting outside the property boundary.
– I have a fairly large area that the municipality thinks I should shovel, which is not my plot, says Kenneth Lembe, 71.
In Luleå, the municipality has decided to narrow streets to increase traffic safety and save money. This means that villa owners in certain residential blocks are responsible for cutting grass and shoveling snow on surfaces between their plot boundaries and the street.
– Santa ends roughly where I am standing. Then they don’t shovel, it’s three to four meters out on the road there, says Kenneth Lembe, and points to an area in front of him.
He, like many others, now has to pay to have snow cleared up to the property line.
– I have a fairly large area that the municipality thinks I should shovel, which is not my plot, he says.
The villa owners are critical: “Not okay”
The interest association Villaägarna in Luleå is also critical of the new rules.
– You should have checked with the residents before. It is not okay that we should have to shovel on the municipality’s land, says Mikael Larsson, chairman of the Villaägarna in Luleå.
The villa owners also think that narrow streets in residential areas impair safety because it becomes too crowded for cars to meet, and less space for pedestrians and cyclists.
Luleå Municipality, on the other hand, believes that traffic safety increases with narrower streets, because cars are forced to reduce their speed. Ulrika Lundberg (V), chairman of the infrastructure and service committee, says that the issue is complex.
– There are different aspects, it is both traffic safety, economy, operation and maintenance and stormwater management. It’s all those things, she says.
Planning for more narrow streets
The opposition in the municipality has requested that the work on narrowing streets be paused and evaluated, something that the municipal management does not agree with.
This summer, more residential blocks will have narrower streets.
– It looks good on a drawing, but in practice it doesn’t work. Nobody wants to shovel or cut grass on the municipality’s land, says Kenneth Lembe.