Swiss court rejects 30km/h speed limit in Geneva

In 2022 the Geneva authorities had introduced a 30km/h speed limit to combat excessive noise on 456 road stretches across the canton. Keystone-SDA

A Swiss court says the cantonal authorities in Geneva should not have introduced a 30 km/h speed limit on its local roads.

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In a ruling published on Wednesday, the Administrative Court of First Instance (TAPI) annulled an earlier decree introduced by the cantonal authorities in 2022.

“The court was unable to determine whether the speed reductions on the nearly 280 stretches of road covered by the decree were proportionate,” the court said, as revealed by Léman Bleu and Tribune de Genève on Thursday.

The court contested the fact that Geneva’s Department of Health and Mobility (DSM) had not carried out expert assessments as required by the federal law on road traffic.

It ruled in favour of the police officer who had continued the legal challenge after the withdrawal of other appeals lodged against the 2022 decree, which had been introduced to combat excessive road noise by lowering the speed limit on 456 road stretches in Geneva. Minister Pierre Maudet, who took over the case, had reached a consensus with the four appellant associations.

A new updated decree published at the end of 2023 maintained a 50 km/h speed limit on a number of roads that had been reduced to 30 km/h at night, as well as on other roads initially affected by a day and night speed limit. The TAPI notes that the speed reductions apply to almost 280 stretches of road.

Expert reports required

According to the DSM, two surveys had been carried out on the Pont-d’Arve and de la Tour boulevards in Geneva. But the TAPI points out that many of the sections affected by the disputed order do not have the same characteristics. It pointed out that case law “clearly requires that a prior expert assessment be carried out for each section affected by a speed reduction”.

Consequently, the urgent need to protect the health of the population from road noise does not allow such expert assessments to be dispensed with, the DSM argued.

The TAPI, for its part, points out that the installation of low-noise surfacing is one of the preferred measures for limiting noise at source. However, the deadline for carrying out road noise insulation measures expired at the end of March 2018.

Possible appeal

“This is a ruling that applies the law and the clear case law in this area, and that’s very good,” said Romain Jordan, the police officer’s lawyer with Stéphane Grodecki. In his view, the former magistrate in charge of the department, Serge Dal Busco, “adopted his decree and then thought about it afterwards. In a state governed by the rule of law, you can’t govern that way”.

The DSM takes note of the TAPI’s decision and will not appeal. It undertakes to bring together soon all the parties concerned to find a joint solution to improve the flow of traffic and to preserve the quality of life of the people of Geneva in terms of public health and mobility.

For its part, the coalition of associations involved in the procedure is considering the possibility of appealing. “It is disproportionate for one person to bend the canton to his will. His ability to act is questionable,” commented Thibault Schneeberger, coordinator of Actif-trafic. He called on the canton to take responsibility for the thousands of people who suffer from excessive road noise.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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