As of: March 26, 2024, 12:21 p.m
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Trucks drive over Hamburg's Köhlbrand Bridge.
© Georg Wendt/dpa
What should happen to the Köhlbrand Bridge in Hamburg?
The Senate actually wanted to decide this week on a replacement for the dilapidated but important port connection.
That's off the table.
Hamburg - The red-green Hamburg Senate will not decide on the new Köhlbrand crossing until next week at the earliest.
Contrary to the original plans, there will be no decision this Tuesday to replace the aging Köhlbrand Bridge, Senate circles said.
The state press conference, at which the plans were actually supposed to have been presented at lunchtime, was also canceled.
The reason for the postponement is discord in the city-state's government.
According to dpa information, the so-called coordination between the authorities between the leading economic authority of Senator Melanie Leonhard (SPD) and the environmental authority of Senator Jens Kerstan (Greens) is difficult.
The bridge, which was completed in 1974 and is important for the port, is used by around 38,000 vehicles every day, including many trucks.
It is due to be replaced by 2036 due to overload and continued damage.
A decision was recently expected to build a new bridge, which at 4.5 to 5 billion euros should be cheaper than the tunnel solution long favored by the Senate.
Leonhard's spokesman Martin Helfrich said that final feedback must first be incorporated as part of the coordination of the printed matter, "so that the Senate can quickly deal with a carefully coordinated basis."
“The Senator for Economic Affairs represents both the port industry’s interest in a quickly clarified perspective for a new crossing and the goal of enabling everyone involved to make an informed and thoroughly prepared decision.”
CDU state leader Dennis Thering sees the postponement as a disaster for Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) and his Senate.
“Again argument instead of decision, again an infrastructure project that is important for Hamburg is not making progress,” said Thering, who is also chairman of the largest opposition faction in the citizenry.
Thering expressed doubts about the Senate's ability to act and its reliability.
The Köhlbrand crossing project is increasingly becoming a symbol of a red-green Senate that is failing in important projects.
The economic spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group, Götz Wiese, added: “With the inability to present a solution for the Köhlbrand crossing, the Senate is exposing our port to ridicule in international competition.”
Two weeks ago, an internal audit report from the economic authority indicated that a new bridge would be built as a replacement solution.
“On the basis of this investigation, the Senate will make a recommendation for a new coal burn crossing,” said a spokesman for the economic authority.
For a long time, a tunnel was considered a virtual decision.
However, in the middle of last year, Economics Senator Leonhard brought a replacement bridge that had already been discussed back into play, among other things for cost reasons, and commissioned corresponding investigations.
She refused to renovate the existing bridge.
The bridge is a “technical and economic total loss”.
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According to unconfirmed reports, the originally announced 5.3 billion euros costs for a tunnel have now become around 7 billion euros due to increased construction prices.
A new bridge with a clearance height for ships of more than 70 meters is expected to cost 4.5 to 5 billion euros, with around half a billion euros to be added for the demolition of the existing bridge, which is around 20 meters lower.
It is still unclear who will cover which costs.
However, the Köhlbrand Bridge was upgraded to a federal highway in 2021, paving the way for federal funding.
dpa