Berlin’s Senator for Transport Bettina Jarasch (Greens) opposes the federal government’s new plans to push ahead with the extension of the A100 city motorway. “This is transport policy from the day before yesterday. We don’t need a new highway in the city, we need a turnaround in mobility, she told the Tagesspiegel. “Instead of continuing to destroy the cities with multi-lane aisles, investments must be made in public transport, in trains and buses, in cycle paths and footpaths, in the networking of mobility.”
The red-green-red coalition has decided to put the A100 plans on hold because you need the space for a liveable Berlin, for apartments and green spaces, said the transport senator. “We don’t need to continue building the A100. I am assuming that the Federal Ministry of Transport will think better of this.”
Jarasch’s statements were preceded by the report that the federal government is apparently pushing ahead with plans to extend the A100 city motorway to Prenzlauer Berg. “It’s still being built. The tenders for the planning of the 17th construction phase were published today by the federal highway company founded in 2018,” said Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport Daniela Kluckert (FDP) in an interview with the “Berliner Morgenpost”.
With the new plans, the route of the motorway construction should therefore be revised, since the previous plans are now outdated. According to the FDP politician, this should be clarified by 2025.
The 17th construction phase of the A100 has been disputed for years. It is to connect to the 16th construction phase currently under construction from Neukölln to Treptower Park and, after crossing the Spree, lead to Storkower Straße.
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In particular, the Greens and Leftists in Berlin, as well as parts of the SPD, are opposed to the expansion of the trunk road. As in the past five years, the coalition of the three parties had therefore also agreed in the new coalition agreement that they did not want to push ahead with the plans for the extension during the legislative period.
However, the construction of the motorway is now a purely federal project. The extension is currently planned in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. In addition, as part of the autobahn reform, the state of Berlin has handed over planning approval for federal trunk roads to the federally owned Autobahn GmbH. “The Bundestag has passed the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan, in which the 17th construction phase is given priority – and with the tender for the plans for the 17th construction phase of the A100, it is now also clear that construction will continue,” State Secretary Kluckert made clear.
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Order now for free
The Berlin left also speaks out against this – and is thinking about ways to prevent the construction from the state side: Berlin still has the legal right to give planning approval back to the state. The left also brings a course before the Federal Constitutional Court into play. “From our point of view, it is legally questionable that the federal government is allowed to dispose of land against the will and without the participation of a federal state for decades.”
The actions of the Ministry of Transport sparked a new dispute in the traffic light coalition. It was agreed in the government that the highway would be overhauled. and federal road projects together, says the transport policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Stefan Gelbhaar. “Such a joint understanding did not take place on the A100.” It is unfortunate that the Ministry of Transport is starting such a solo effort.
In the coalition agreement, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP agreed to re-examine the priorities in the Federal Transport Plan. Until then, there should be “a joint vote on the ongoing projects,” according to the coalition agreement.
“The A 100 is neither necessary nor sensible. On the contrary: it destroys the city and eats up valuable areas,” said Pankow politician Gelbhaar. His party is doing all it can to stop the construction of “this infrastructure disaster from the last century.” Gelbhaar described the now launched tender for the route as “a complete waste of money”.
CDU and business associations praise the decision
The transport policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in the House of Representatives, Oliver Friederici, described the federal government’s announcement as “good news for Berliners”. “There are many advantages for the people of our city. That’s why we expect the Governing Mayor to support this major project with all her might. Berlin is a big city, not Bullerbü.”
The general manager of the Association of Business Associations Berlin-Brandenburg (UVB), Christian Amsinck, also praised the step. “This project is of outstanding importance for commercial traffic in Berlin. The use of the entire motorway for the city will increase enormously as a result of the further construction up to Storkower Straße.”
The eastern part of Berlin will be better connected through the 17th construction phase and the city center will be relieved of through traffic at the same time. “Berlin should not put any further obstacles in the way of this project.”
Berlin Greens announce “bitter resistance”.
Green parliamentary group leader Werner Graf also confronted the federal government’s plans. “We have to get away from oil and Federal Transport Minister Wissing wants to build a useless Autobahn through Berlin. How big can the Autobahn fetishism actually be?” he said. The plans are “a complete failure in terms of transport and security policy”.
If the Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) does not reconsider the project, “bitter resistance from Berlin” can be expected, said Graf.
