At the Schönrieder Dorfgesprächen, the village organisation passes on information about current topics and lends an ear to the population. This year, the focus was on the expansion of the Hubelstrasse, the Solsana-Lädeli-Schönried hiking trail and the traffic plans for Schönried. Municipal councillor Therese Mösching and Philipp Becker, technical manager of infrastructures, passed on the information. Also Flurin Riedi, new managing director of Gstaad Saanenland Tourism, was going to talk about his experiences in the area. However, since he’d just become a father, with his second child born on that day, the 40 or so people present were very aware that his family needed him.

“The canton is overworked”
Two years ago, the local people participated in the project on the route planning through Schönried. That was when the last meeting of the monitoring group was held. Meanwhile, a petition was filed against the planned 30 zone, but that wasn’t the reason why planning didn’t progress, said Mösching. “In 2018, we were assured there’d be another meeting with the monitoring group. However, the canton is too congested.”

The milk depot in the middle of the village is a perennial issue and pedestrians either have to cross over or dodge traffic on the road to get past the cars with trailers during operational times. "It's life-threatening," said a concerned mother, speaking out. Especially during the dark season, it’s extremely dangerous there.

To enforce a speed limit of 50km/h, an interested party suggested that, as in other villages, they should introduce a permanent speed check with a smiley face. "A smiley face appeals to people’s emotions and inspires everyone to stick to the speed limit," he said. Municipal representatives also welcomed this approach and promised to pursue it.

A new concept for the expansion of the Hubelstrasse
The Federal Court has agreed with a protesting resident and stopped the expansion of the Hubelstrasse. The justification for this is that the project is too extensive. Nevertheless, the expansion of the Hubelstrasse, which is too narrow, must be pushed forward and the people of Schönried and the municipality all agree. Therefore, the municipality has started to prepare a new preliminary project. To make sure that local residents have a say, instead of blocking the project, a participation procedure has been set up.

New bike route for Schönried
"In Schönried, we’ve always got a lot done under our own initiative," said Hans Frautschi on the subject of cycling. This year, he’s designed and launched a challenge in Schönried as part of the Swissrent Challenges. It will take place in September in the Rellerli area.

Cycling is a hot topic. Johny Wyssmüller once again showed that the Saanenland is only at the start of its developmental journey compared to other destinations. Wyssmüller stated that the flow trail at Horneggli is on the right track. This has also been in the planning phase for years.

Based on AvS/Blanca Burri 
Translated by Justine Hewson