Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) threatens to be slowed down by states with plans for a faster construction of certain motorway projects. State governments, in which the Greens co-govern, want more time, as a survey by the German Press Agency showed. Wissing had set a deadline for the countries more than a week ago. They should inform the federal government by Friday whether they agree to the legal stipulation of a project to eliminate bottlenecks.

At the end of March, the traffic light coalition at the federal level agreed that there should be an acceleration for motorway projects that are congestion hotspots and bottlenecks. That's a total of 145, but they also include parts of a project. They are mainly located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. However, the establishment of an overriding public interest should be done in agreement with the country concerned, according to a decision paper of the coalition committee.

North Rhine-Westphalia has not yet given the green light to accelerate motorway projects. "The talks are ongoing," said a spokesman for NRW Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens).

Significantly accelerate planning times

Hesse also needs more time to review the plans. The Hessian Ministry of Transport will "need a few days longer" for this, said Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens). Hesse is striving for a quick processing so that a conclusion of the legislative procedure in the federal government can be achieved before the summer break. According to its own statements, the Ministry of Transport in Baden-Württemberg is still coordinating within the government led by Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens). "We cannot yet say how we will answer the Federal Minister. We are still in the process of coordinating this in the government," said the ministry spokesman.

In Bavaria, the federal government wants to establish an "overriding public interest" for 23 motorway expansion projects. The Free State of Bavaria will register all these projects for the Planning Acceleration Act, according to the Ministry of Transport. A corresponding notification to the Federal Ministry of Transport will be made in due time.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Economics and Transport, Daniela Schmitt (FDP), is in favor of the acceleration planned by her party colleague Wissing for highway projects, as she told the dpa in Mainz. The list of projects proposed by the Federal Ministry of Transport is to be fully supported. Wissing comes from Rhineland-Palatinate.

By establishing an overriding public interest, planning times for transport routes are to be significantly reduced. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, a total of 988 kilometers of new roads are to be built, which corresponds to 7.5 percent of the existing network. The goal: less congestion and smooth traffic. If a state agrees, projects are to be included in an approval acceleration law planned by Wissing, according to a letter from the minister to the states. The bill should be dealt with quickly in the Federal Cabinet.

North Rhine-Westphalia as a "hotspot" in need of renovation

In a letter from Krischer to Wissing, the NRW minister calls on his federal counterpart to clarify open questions. In view of the large number of projects located in North Rhine-Westphalia, he needed further information before making a decision on the declaration of consent, Krischer said. He asks about the current planning status of the upcoming projects and where the federal government sees concrete potential for acceleration in the respective measures. Krischer also wants to know on which sections of the bottleneck clearance are bridge structures that are due for renovation and what the federal government's concrete plan for implementing the rehabilitation of motorway bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia looks like.

North Rhine-Westphalia is said to be a "hotspot" in terms of motorway bridges in need of renovation. The requested information is essential for the assessment of the complex facts and is needed for decision-making in the short term.

In Bavaria, the federal government's plans for a faster motorway expansion do not go far enough with a view to the Free State. In addition to the need identified by the federal government so far, Bavaria's Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) would like to have further motorway sections accelerated expansion. Important projects from Bavaria are not included there, according to Bernreiter