Berlin.
The construction of motorways must also be accelerated. Transport Minister Wissing is right – and yet a credibility problem.
It crunches tremendously in the traffic light. Just the conflict over the supply of main battle tanks to Ukraine, now one intensified confrontation about the motorway construction and soon probably a new round in terms of longer Akw running times: They know something about arguing in the Berlin coalition.
On Thursday evening, the leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP sat together for several hours to Disagreements in transport policy to get out of the way. They didn’t succeed. The traffic light wants to speed up the planning process so that the climate can be better protected and the dilapidated infrastructure can finally be modernized.
Motorways: Is their construction in the “overriding public interest”?
The dispute essentially revolves around the question of whether New construction of highways is to be accelerated in that the projects in the future are considered to be projects of “overriding public interest” – as is already the case with the construction of wind farms and future rail projects, bridge renovations or the expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric cars. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) believes that this must be the case. The Greens, especially in the person of Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, see it differently.
Wissing’s position would be a lot more credible if he had hitherto appeared as a minister who is very serious about the climate protection. In the transport sector, greenhouse gas emissions are not falling as planned. And although he is obliged to do so, the responsible minister is doing too little to change that.
The FDP is attached to the car, which for them is part of freedom. In this respect, Wissing is now defending one of the last remaining players trademark of the Liberals. He doesn’t want anything to do with a speed limit on the freeway, even though the impact on the climate would be considerable and the increase in safety on the roads would probably be too.
Speed limit: A compromise should be possible
Who knows: maybe the FDP will still move at this point. Speed limit against planning acceleration – that would be a horse trade that could even sell well in public. In two weeks there will be elections in the state of Berlin. The election campaign is about, among other things, a possible extension of the A100 city motorway through densely populated inner-city districts, which the FDP and the Federal Minister of Transport want. At the latest after the election, the coalition members in the federal government should have enough starting points for a compromise.
Irrespective of this, it is the case that infrastructure projects in Germany actually have to be implemented much faster than before. This also applies to roads in general and motorways in particular. Not every citizen lives near a train station, let alone an ICE stop. The economy needs good, efficient transport links. There are also gaps in the motorway networkbut not every gap has to be closed just because it was planned many years ago.
Transport: priority for rail
There is more than enough to do on the German autobahns, the condition of which is due to a gigantic investment backlog is pathetic in many places. If something is in the overriding public interest, it is the rehabilitation of existing traffic routes. In any case, it should have priority over new construction. And when transport politicians are faced with the question of whether to spend scarce funds primarily on rail or road, then rail should be given the go-ahead as often as possible. It is more climate-friendly and space-saving. And it is better suited than the road to cope with the increasing volume of traffic.
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