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Maienfeld David A. (61) blocked the section of road in front of his house with wooden gates.
Nicolas Luratireporter news
The city council and resident David A.* (61) have been fighting for years because of a section of road on the slope above the town of Maienfeld GR. This now culminates in a roadblock that A. completed without permission from the city.
If you walk along the Muldenweg from the hamlet of Rofels, you will see a huge wooden gate barricading the road. The same picture from the other side: Here, too, a wooden construction blocks the road. David A. no longer wants his street to be driven on, walked on or ridden on.
The result: drivers have to turn around. And passers-by only conquer the barrier if they are willing to get their feet dirty and stomp across the field. This footpath leads along the plot boundary.
It had to come to this because the city hasn’t responded to his demands for years, David A. explains to Blick: “I only ask her to restrict through traffic on the Muldenweg with a driving ban.” Only residents, suppliers and the school bus are allowed to drive through if it is up to him. But: “You can’t negotiate with the city. I fall on deaf ears.”
“The speed limit is 80. 30 would be adequate”
The self-employed entrepreneur explains the reasons for his concern: “Countless cars drive past my house.” The maximum speed allowed is also a problem: “The speed limit is 80. 30 would be adequate.” The e-bikers who race through him are also a danger, says A. “My biggest horror: I don’t see you reversing or parking.”
And that’s not all, animals also bother David A. “Horses do their business in front of my house,” he says. And: “If a group of cows comes by, it causes damage to my property.” Hikers are also a problem. “They look into my living room.”
After the Pinzgauer came the wooden gates
A. has therefore been blocking the road since Christmas Eve 2022. First he put his Pinzgauer across the asphalt. “But I still didn’t have total peace from the troublemakers. So I barricaded the section in front of my house on both sides with a makeshift wooden gate at the beginning of January.”
The Maienfeld city council does not like the fact that the road has been closed since then. Mayor Heinz Dürler (56/SVP) says on Blick request: “We want to restore the decades-long condition on the Muldenweg, which means: free passage and a free path for everyone.”
However, what makes the matter complicated: “The street belongs to the owner – and not to the city,” Dürler notes. But an official footpath and hiking trail has been registered over the parcel. Therefore, the right of way applies to passers-by, hikers and cyclists, according to the mayor. “When it comes to driving rights, we refer, among other things, to decades of development.”
“City made me angry”
The courts must now clarify whether David A. will actually be allowed to close the road at some point. For Mayor Dürler, however, it is clear that the current situation is unsustainable. “He has only made an application to the regional court, which is far from a permit. The court has yet to decide that. That date has not yet been set.”
Resident David A. meanwhile demands for the future that the city reroutes the street in front of his house. “It must no longer lead through my plot. My patience with the city has run out. You made me angry.”
* Name changed