A new service area is planned on Autobahn 73 in the Coburg district. The project is expected to cost 19 million euros, and 117 parking spaces for cars and 64 truck parking spaces are to be created on almost twelve hectares. There is criticism of these plans: the location near Drossenhausen means an intervention in a previously little-developed landscape, said Gerd Weibelzahl from the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD). It is understandable that there is a great need for truck parking spaces. That was the result of a wrong traffic policy, that people didn’t rely on rail but on the road, said Weibelzahl. There are other locations in the region, for example commercial areas are already located there and the impact on nature would be less.
The federal Autobahn-GmbH, which is responsible for the planning, emphasized that the planned location had turned out to be the best. “The building permit process is already well advanced. The area is already owned by Autobahn GmbH,” said a spokeswoman for the Northern Bavaria branch. The government of Upper Franconia is currently implementing the planning approval process. It is not yet clear when construction can begin. It has been planned for many years. The spokeswoman explained that on the basis of the Federal Trunk Roads Act, managed rest areas are provided on motorways at intervals of 50 to 80 kilometers.
On the A 73, which starts in Nuremberg and leads to Thuringia, there are no such systems. Among other things, another plant is planned further south, between Buttenheim (Bamberg district) and Forchheim. Otherwise, the Autobahn-GmbH in northern Bavaria is concentrating on the expansion of existing systems, as the spokeswoman said. According to a spokesman, no new serviced tank and rest areas are currently planned in southern Bavaria. Existing parking spaces are being expanded or modernized.
In the meantime, citizens in the Coburg region have also joined forces to mobilize against the service area with an action alliance. Like the VCD, they fear too great an encroachment on nature and are concerned about flood protection in the surrounding areas if a large area is sealed off for the rest area.