Berlin’s FDP boss Christoph Meyer assumes that the controversial extension of the Autobahn 100 from Treptower Park through Friedrichshain towards Lichtenberg will definitely be built. The decision was made at the federal level, said the deputy FDP parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag of the German Press Agency: “The A100 is prioritized by a federal law with the 17th construction phase.”
This legal situation has changed just as little as the time planning: “The detailed planning of the further construction could finally be tendered last year, the orders have been awarded and are now being implemented,” said Meyer. “This will mean that we can go into planning approval in 2025.”
There is a “clear need” for the A100 extension, according to Meyer. The expected traffic figures in the vicinity of this highway are massive. “If I build a highway through the city and see that the traffic in the residential areas would increase significantly if I don’t continue the highway, then it is a transport policy – but also a climate policy – necessity to finish building it,” said Meyer. “The A100 is the artery for the capital.”
“It’s about opening up East Berlin better. It would bring massive relief to the local residents, an improvement for the connection to BER for the East of the city.” That’s why Berlin needs the further construction of the A100.
The 16th section of the A100 from Dreieck Neukölln to Treptower Park, which is under construction, is scheduled for completion in 2024. The FDP-led Federal Ministry of Transport is pushing ahead with planning for the 17th section, although the previous red-green-red Berlin Senate rejected it.
In their coalition agreement, the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party had agreed not to pursue the planning and construction of the section in question any further. The probable new government partners CDU and SPD only mentioned the completion of the 16th construction phase in their coalition agreement. The 17th section was left out because the CDU is for and the SPD is against the extension.
Meyer criticized that the CDU had “not even prevailed on this issue” in the coalition negotiations and that there was no clear commitment to the Autobahn. “That’s not how you get to a functioning city.”
At the end of March, the SPD, Greens and FDP at the federal level agreed on a package in a coalition committee that, among other things, provides for the accelerated expansion of the motorways at 144 points. The A100 extension in Berlin is not one of them.
“The A100 is not on the 144 list because there are projects that the traffic light coalition has agreed to accelerate,” Meyer said. “The fact that we didn’t manage to do that for the A100 is because we don’t have a consensus at the federal level.” However, the detailed planning mentioned is still ongoing.
“I don’t see a majority against the A100 at the federal level,” added Meyer. “And it would be surprising on a Berlin level if a CDU traffic senator took action against the A100 in a similar way to Bettina Jarasch from the Greens.”
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