It is a further chapter in the long-standing dispute over the expansion of the Franconian Expressway in Nuremberg: The Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) in Munich has dismissed two lawsuits against the transport project. The appeal was not allowed, as a court spokesman said on Tuesday. However, an appeal against the non-admission to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is possible. The court initially only announced the decision; the reasons for the judgment should be sent to those involved in the coming weeks.
With their lawsuits, the Federation for Nature Conservation (BN) and a resident from Nuremberg wanted to prevent the intersection-free expansion of the traffic jam-plagued inner-city section of the Autobahn 73 in Nuremberg. The section of the route is regularly overloaded and in need of renovation. The lawsuits were specifically directed against the Free State’s planning approval decision. The plaintiffs had complained, among other things, that an expansion would attract even more cars onto Nuremberg’s streets and would further worsen the nitrogen oxide levels in the city’s air, which were sometimes too high.
The BN also criticized what it considered to be excessive costs for implementation. The city recently estimated around 700 million euros for the project. Part of the Franconian Expressway is to be expanded to include a lane. In addition, noise barriers are to be built and traffic is to be relocated to a tunnel around two kilometers long. The city is advertising that the expansion will bring less traffic jams and more greenery.
Nuremberg’s mayor Marcus König (CSU) said of the VGH decision on Tuesday: “Justitia proved us right. However, the lengthy lawsuits from the Federation for Nature Conservation (BN) and other opponents of the transport project have not only delayed the necessary modernization of the Franconian Expressway in terms of time delayed by many years.” The legal blockage of the expansion with numerous reliefs for many thousands of residents and road users has also ensured that the expected costs for the project have already more than doubled, said König. The BN and its colleagues deliberately slowed down the project. The city also expects that the plaintiffs will appeal the decision. He recommends stopping now and carefully assessing the situation again, said König. Approaches should be examined in order to find a solution more quickly, cheaply and in a more timely manner. König announced that the city wants to talk to the Free State about financing and with the city council factions of the CSU, SPD and Greens.
The Federal Nature Conservation Association described the dismissal of the lawsuits as a setback for climate protection and the transport transition. The fact that the VGH approved the planning was bitter, said BN state chairman Richard Mergner. He urgently appeals to Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and Nuremberg city politics to say goodbye to this dinosaur planning. The Nuremberg BN district group chairman Klaus-Peter Murawski announced that they would wait for the written reasons and then decide whether to appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.
The VGH had dealt with the appeal of the two lawsuits. The administrative court in Ansbach had already dismissed the lawsuits in 2013. In the meantime, the proceedings were suspended as the city and plaintiff tried to reach a settlement. Since this ultimately failed, the proceedings ended up at the VGH. In previous years there had already been other lawsuits against the planned expansion of the Franconian Expressway.