Status: 01/03/2023 12:34 p.m
Not good news for motorway users: there are currently 552 construction sites on German motorways and, according to the operator, they will probably remain so. Even if a lot was invested in 2022, the renovation backlog is still large.
According to estimates by the federal operator, motorway users in Germany will have to live with hundreds of construction sites in the coming years. “In the past, too little was invested in maintaining the infrastructure,” said the managing director of Autobahn GmbH, Stephan Krenz, of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “The motorway network is at its breaking point in many places.”
There are currently 552 construction sites on the motorways that are being worked on for longer. According to Krenz, up to nine percent of the motorway network is affected. The traffic couldn’t handle more. The number will not decrease in the foreseeable future because of the backlog of renovation projects.
According to its own statements, the operator takes care of around 13,000 kilometers of motorway.
“The backbone of the transport infrastructure”
As the newspaper reports, Germany invested a record sum of 5.4 billion euros in the autobahns last year. Compared to 2021, this is around half a billion euros more. Krenz emphasized that significantly more was built than before.
In principle, Germany has a well-functioning motorway network, the industrial engineer clarified. “This network takes on the brunt of the traffic in the country.” The highways are the backbone of the transport infrastructure.
Krenz appealed to politicians to speed up the planning of construction projects. He complained about the list of issues such as species protection or noise and fire protection that had to be dealt with before a building application could even be submitted.