Discussing A49

For anyone who has spent a couple of years in Germany....traveling around the country, they will note that some (few) autobahns are not complete. 

For years and years, the autobahn connection (A63) from Mainz to Kaiserslautern was mostly a fantasy.  You'd get maybe 5 km south of Mainz, and it'd just end right there, and you'd connect to state roads (2 lanes).  At some point in the early 1990s, they'd completed around three-quarters of the autobahn (over a 30-year period)....totaling 60 km. The state (the Pfalz) went out and suddenly put the money in...to rush the final 20 km.  This effort took four years to wrap up.

So there is now another project very similar to this...the A49 project, here in Hessen.   Presently, the autobahn starts from Kassel (here in north Hessen) and when completed....would connect to the far south of the state....to Gemunden (roughly 120 km away).

The planning for this route was completed in 2004.  So, you can say it's now at the one-third point of planning and execution, with part of the route 'done'. 

But we've reached a new and bigger issue....environmentalists who are determined to halt the construction of the autobahn through a massive forest (Vogelsberg area).  This has turned into a rather large magnet for various groups, and a major protest is scheduled this weekend to halt the project.

Issue here?  Well....the court system has spent a fair amount of time reviewing the case and rendered the verdict recently....the government has accomplished all requirements, and it is all legal. 

Part of this construction effort is to cut traffic on the other regional autobahn, improving safety.   

All this delay leading to a longer timeline?  More or less.  At some point here, one might expect the police to finally enter the scene in significant numbers....taking down the protesters, and reestablishing authority over the construction area. 

For future planners of autobahn extensions?  I would suggest that it's reaching a stage where even if you had serious need for an extension, with ample cash in your pocket for the project....the battling with environmentalists and time delays will be too huge to overcome.