Zurich canton to spend 3.2 million francs upgrading Meilen stop

The canton of Zurich will spend 3.2 million francs to upgrade and expand a stop for travelling communities in Meilen, though the region still lacks enough pitches, SRF reported.

The existing site is currently a car park with no infrastructure. The project will add toilets, electricity and sewage connections, creating a transit stop with about 10 pitches. Construction is due to begin next year, provided no objections are filed with the municipality.

Because visitors will no longer be able to park there from March to October, the canton also plans to build a separate car park for about 20 vehicles on an adjoining plot.

The upgrade follows criticism from the Foundation for the Future of Swiss Travellers, which said the canton’s nine existing sites were too small and outdated, often lacking electricity, fresh water or sanitary facilities. It called for more places, particularly in the Zurich area, the Limmat Valley and the Zurich Oberland.

A transit stop opened in Wädenswil in August, while projects are also planned in Glattfelden and Winterthur. Representatives of the foundation and the Radgenossenschaft, the umbrella organisation for Jenisch and Sinti people in Switzerland, welcomed the Meilen project but said more transit stops and longer-term pitches were needed for stays from autumn to spring.

Across Switzerland, around 3,000 Jenisch and Sinti people travel with their caravans, mainly during the summer. The country has 24 longer-term pitches, four more than five years ago, and the number of transit stops has also risen slightly. The canton says finding suitable land is difficult and that the needs of Jenisch and Sinti people are often overlooked because they are a little-known minority.