House of Representatives relaxes ban on road salt in winter

Road salt should no longer be taboo on slippery Berlin roads in winter. (Symbolic image)

In future, road salt may be used on Berlin's sidewalks in cases of extreme snow and ice. The Berlin Parliament has passed a corresponding amendment to the law to relax the ban on salt, which was introduced for environmental reasons.

Accordingly, the Senate Department for Transport and the Environment can allow private individuals to spread salt for a limited period of time if “public interests” require it. The law also grants the Senate more powers to help the districts enforce the clearing and gritting obligations of property owners. If this does not work at all, the Senate can instruct the districts to take over winter services in whole or in part themselves and thus commission the Berlin City Cleaning Service (BSR). The costs must then be borne by those who do not fulfill their clearing and gritting obligations.

Winter road maintenance in Berlin is not uniformly regulated

The BSR is responsible for clearing roads and bike paths. On the sidewalks in front of houses, this is the responsibility of the owners, who often do not take care of it or do not take sufficient care of it. For these reasons, among others, many sidewalks in the metropolis were slippery for weeks this winter. Hospitals reported a large influx of patients who had injured themselves in falls.