in the middle
Status: 03/18/2022 07:50 a.m
Four road tunnels are to be built near Garmisch-Partenkirchen by 2030. On the other hand, there is no money for an expansion of the railway line. Critics see a traffic policy from yesterday, residents fear further traffic jams.
Once again, traffic is backing up in front of André Scheerer’s house in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He lives with his family right on one of the thoroughfares through town. When Scheerer looks out of the kitchen window on a nice day, he doesn’t see the fantastic mountain scenery, but only cars next to cars – whether during the week or at the weekend.
The excursion traffic to the mountains and the transit traffic to Austria and Italy during the holiday season make life difficult for him.
Hopes and concerns about traffic in the ‘Valley of Tunnels’
Martin Breitkopf, BR, daily topics, March 17, 2022
Bypass tunnel as the only solution
Scheerer and other residents have been fighting for relief for years with their “2 tunnels for Garmisch-Partenkirchen” initiative. Since Garmisch-Partenkirchen is surrounded by mountains, bypass tunnels are the only solution. After much back-and-forth and much protest, federal politicians understood and approved the two desired tunnel solutions.
The Kramer tunnel has been under construction for some time, and the Wank tunnel is in the planning phase. But that’s not all: Another bypass tunnel is being built in the neighboring town of Oberau, and the ground-breaking ceremony for the Auerberg tunnel recently took place.
Four new tunnels are to be built in the Loisach Valley by 2030. The tunnel projects cost around one billion euros. Lots of money to clear the valley of traffic.
The Kramer tunnel – length 3609 meters – should lead to fewer traffic jams in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Image: Martin Breitkopf, BR
Yesterday’s transport policy
Only one road leads to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the railway line to Munich runs parallel to it. But while investments are being made in the road infrastructure, the railways are left empty-handed. That annoys rail commuters like Norbert Moy.
Politicians are constantly talking about a traffic turnaround and promising more money for rail – but the reality here in the Loisach Valley is different, says Moy. Yesterday’s transport policy is being adhered to here without thinking about climate protection and the future.
There are always delays on the single-track railway line, and the journey by train to Munich takes almost twice as long as by car. So the train is not a real alternative. Moy has been campaigning for a double-track expansion of the route for years. But in vain. The expansion did not even make it into the Federal Transport Routes Plan.
Commuters and environmentalists criticize that the railways in the region go empty-handed – and cars are fixed as the main means of transport for years to come.
Image: Martin Breitkopf, BR
New tunnels, more traffic?
The A95 motorway (Munich-Garmisch-Partenkirchen) still ends a few kilometers before Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The traffic through the Loisach Valley is only tortuous in one lane. As soon as the weather is nice, there is a traffic jam, often for kilometers.
But when all the tunnels are finished in 2030, that should change. Four lanes then go through the tunnel to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Axel Doering from the Bund Naturschutz is concerned that this will result in even more traffic entering the valley.
He fears that the route could become a bypass route if traffic backs up on the A8 towards Salzburg. It could also attract even more day-trippers, as better road infrastructure would shorten the travel time from Munich to the mountains.
train slowed down
The tunnels, which are actually supposed to relieve traffic for local residents, could lead to even more noise, stench and traffic jams. The traffic problem in the valley will not be solved, only postponed.
Doering says that transport policy will be cemented in concrete for decades to come with the tunnels. According to the environmentalist, the opportunity to increase the attractiveness of the railway in order to encourage more people to leave their cars behind has been wasted with the billions invested in road and tunnel construction. For him an example of political failure.
Axel Doering from the Bund Naturschutz fears that even more traffic will come to the Loisach Valley.
Image: Martin Breitkopf, BR
A turnaround in traffic that isn’t
The Kramer tunnel should be finished by the end of 2026, and the Wank tunnel is to follow in 2030. Resident André Scheerer then hopes for less traffic in front of his house.
But he also doesn’t believe that the general traffic situation in the Loisach Valley will improve with the tunnels. He regularly has to go to Munich as a lawyer. The journey time by train is unbearable, he says. That’s why he always takes the car. This is not only more convenient but also faster. A turnaround in traffic that is not in the Valley of Tunnels.