Authorities in Hamburg would ban some diesel vehicles from two major arteries to improve air quality, making the German port city the first to take the long-feared step. A 1600-metre section of the Stresemannstrasse highway in the Altona district will be closed to older diesel trucks from May 31st. Meanwhile both diesel-powered trucks and cars that do not meet the latest Euro 6 emissions standards will be banned from a 580-metre stretch of another major and heavily polluted road, the Max-Brauer-Allee.
Exemptions will be allowed for local residents and businesses as well as for delivery vehicles, ambulances and rubbish trucks. For now the government officials have been scrambling for ways to improve air quality without imposing bans like forcing automakers to pay to refit older diesels to meet the latest emissions standards, which will weaken the car industry. The city of Hamburg has a very concrete set of measures with the clear aim of cleaning up the air without limiting mobility.
