client: Canton of Zurich, Department of Civil Engineering
team: Güller Güller architecture urbanism, Synergo, Heierli Engineering AG, EBP, Metron

Replanning urban traffic corridors
Traffic movements generated through urban redevelopment of former industrial areas like the Zurich West district often end up affecting the entire urban transport networks and many other parts of the city. The project needed to find a different long-term solution for East-West and North-South thoroughfares in Zurich West that can cope with new traffic requirements of the area's redevelopment, and can reduce the existing traffic problems in this part of the city and the surrounding districts. The allocation and integration of that traffic load has to be brought into balance with the major impact it has on the structure of the Zurich West area itself.
Established corridors - often major barriers for redevelopment - are challenged by new and more adequate options for canalizing traffic into and through the area. This is particularly difficult as major thoroughfares tend to foster monofunctional areas around them, with no housing possible. The crucial urban quality guidelines, or even conditions, that were to be satisfied by the traffic solutions, included whether a traffic solution enhances mixed-use areas, generates new development opportunities, improves the quality of public spaces and enables links to areas beyond.

A double bridge
The analysis of the impact of different traffic solutions has revealed new opportunities for the urban quality of the redevelopment, as e.g. by a double viaduct for train and highway which replaces the existing highway-bridge. This could not be obtained by the as yet prevailing struggle for more or less maintaining the status quo of the structure of the traffic networks.