Demolition of large houses in Meindorf for motorway expansion causes excitement!

Demolition of large houses in Meindorf for motorway expansion causes excitement!

In Sankt Augustin, several houses are faced with demolition because the A59 motorway is to be widened. The expansion to a total of six lanes extends over 3.2 kilometers between Sankt Augustin-West and Bonn-Nordost. Six plots are affected, the tenants and owners of which had already left the buildings to make room for the expansion. Building materials such as wood, plastic elements and steel parts are currently in front of the houses in Meindorf. While the windows of the affected buildings are intact, the roofs are already covered.

The A59 had not been adapted to the rising traffic figures for over three decades. The motorway currently has around 126,400 vehicles per working day. By 2030, an increase to 139,800 vehicles will be forecast, which is partly due to the planned Rheinspange. This traffic load, combined with the missing hard shoulder, makes the measure urgently required.

planned measures

A new path between Bahnhofstrasse and Johann-Quadt-Straße is planned for foot and cycling. In addition, a landscape bridge over the A59 for animals from the adjacent nature reserve is under discussion, but the final decision is still pending. Member of the Bundestag Norbert Röttgen has already brought this idea to the motorway company.

criticism and alternative approaches

However, the plans for expanding the A59 encounter critical voices. MEP Martin Metz from the Greens questioned the need for the project. He calls for alternative traffic projects and describes the current planning as excessive, which triumphed a discourse on the turnaround in the region.

In a narrower connection, the blocking of the Berlin bridge train for heavy transports from 48 tons is also discussed. This decision, which was announced on October 21, 2024 by the Federal Office of Autobahn, follows the Ruhrbrücke damage determined, which leads to a restriction of the traffic capacity and underlines the pressure to act on existing transport infrastructures. A division of the ongoing planning approval process should be avoided at all costs in order not to delay the new building of the bridge unnecessarily.

The member of the Bundestag Norbert Röttgen also searched for dialogue with the responsible authorities to secure mobility in the region in the long term. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of around 2,000 project proposals for road renovation was carried out as part of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (BVWP) 2030. Each project is assessed in detail in order to assess their necessity and effects on the environment. The results can be found in the Prins project information system, which serves as an important source of information for all infrastructure projects. ksta.de reports that these comprehensive basis for a future-oriented transport infrastructure should serve.

The continuation and success of these initiatives depend crucially on a dialogue between the political actors and the population as well as careful planning in order to ensure both traffic safety as well as the quality of the environment.