Planning for the A26-Ost motorway for almost ten kilometers in the south Hamburg it has already cost 83 million euros. The city of Hamburg will have to cover 39 million euros and the federal government 44 million euros, the Senate said in response to a minor question from the CDU parliamentary group. The total cost of the project was recently estimated at around 2.3 billion euros.
The motorway through the harbor is intended to extend the A26-West coming from Lower Saxony and link the A7 near Hamburg-Moorburg with the A1 near Stillhorn. The A26-East is considered important to the port’s economy. It is also intended to reduce pressure on the Harburg district. The planned route is divided into three parts.
So far there has only been a planning approval decision for the first, western section, but the Federal Administrative Court declared the decision partly unlawful last October. Most importantly, climate protection should receive greater attention, the decision said.
Hamburg will have to cover the costs of the planning approval decision, which so far amounts to around 340,000 euros. Economic authorities estimate an additional 100,000 euros for the correction. According to information, the federal government will receive 20 million euros each for planning the remaining two parts, and the city of Hamburg will receive several hundred thousand euros each.
The CDU accused the Red-Green Senate of not providing adequate priorities
Hamburg’s environmental authorities thoroughly examined the plan approval decision criticized by the court for six to eight weeks before issuing it, the Senate further announced. The project management company Deges is reviewing various route alternatives from climate protection and other aspects. The planning approval authority then confirmed the requested variance.
The environmental authority is headed by Green Party politician Katharina Fegebank, the economic authority responsible for planning approvals is led by SPD state chair Melanie Leonhard. The port policy spokesperson of the CDU parliamentary group, Antonia Goldner, criticized the fact that the highway project received little priority from the red-green Senate. “The prolonged gridlock and poor prioritization of the Senate on the A26-East project is now a symptom of the SPD and the Green Party,” explained the opposition lawmaker.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251123-930-328504/1
