The main construction site was located years before just west of Linden. The western motorway between Lindener Berg in the south and Schwanenburgbrücke in the north must be renewed. Eight sick bridges. Talks about this with citizens are due to begin as early as the first quarter of 2022. Greens leader Daniel Jardine is calling on this occasion to speak of a “big hit”. It is proposed to transfer the western highway – similar to the southern highway – in a tunnel.
Jardine also knows that this will cost a lot of money. The 800-meter-high Südschnellweg tunnel alone will cost around 140 million euros. The road in Linden, which Green wants to implement underground, will be much longer by about two kilometers. However, he sees advantages above all else. As in the case of the cap above the A7 in Hamburg, many additional apartments can be created in today’s motorway area by building a tunnel above.
Financing additional costs for the tunnel with housing?
“In the best place,” Jardine asserts. Right on the edge of the three Linden districts, with good traffic links. Because there are tram stops nearby. “Several hectares of very attractive space” could be developed to build much-needed apartments, downtown Hanover, explains the leader of the parliamentary group. It is believed that this could at least partially offset the cost of building the tunnel.
In Jardine’s view, the tunnel would also solve a big problem. Because in some areas, such as Bardowicker Straße, Westschnellweg in Linden hardly ever really passes apartment blocks. As part of the renovation, there is a risk of the highway being widened for safety reasons. In the case of the Southern Highway, this was the reason for building the tunnel. A new, wider bridge would have connected over Hildesheimer Strasse all the way to the houses on Döhrener Willmerstrasse. “The situation in Westschnellweg is quite similar,” Jardine says.
SPD: A perfect tunnel for noise protection – but is the federal government paying?
The Social Democratic Party, the Greens’ coalition partner in the new council, sees problems as well. “I see a need for improvement, especially when it comes to noise protection. The tunnel would be perfect, of course,” says SPD parliamentary group leader Lars Kelisch. However, he is “a little skeptical” whether the federal government is willing to take the massive amount Of the money on hand, Kelisch suspects that “it will certainly be more urgent in terms of implementation than with the Südschnellweg”.
The State Road and Traffic Construction Authority, which is responsible for planning, had announced that it would enter into “public” talks with citizens. According to spokesperson Jens-Thilo Schulze, no decision has been made on the preferred replacement. The construction of the tunnel is not excluded in principle. “The prerequisite for pursuing this alternative is that the city of Hanover sees the value of urban development here and makes a significant financial contribution to the construction,” Schultz asserts.
Country: The situation in Linden is different from that of Südschnellweg
However, the situation in Linden and Döhren “cannot be compared”. In Döhren, the high-speed road runs significantly closer to residential development in a linear fashion, and this applies in Linden “only selectively”, according to the spokesperson.
In any case, state planners will have to prepare for active public participation. “Linden-Limmer is an investment bastion. The state must enter into this process well-prepared and with good arguments”, demands the district mayor Rainer Grobbe. In any case, a “region-compatible solution” must be found.
By Christian Bonenkamp
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