"Strategic Review" on Lobau Tunnel Available

The "strategic assessment" proposal for the Lobau Tunnel results from an evaluation of three alternatives. An evaluation of the S1 section between Schwechat and Süßenbrunn commissioned by the BMK three years ago showed that the road construction and tunnel project would cause additional traffic burdens with negative consequences for the environment, climate, and spatial structures, according to the "Strategic Traffic Assessment" report.

Lobau Tunnel According to "Strategic Assessment" the Worst Solution

There is no way around removing the Lobau highway from the Federal Roads Act, stated Lukas Hammer, the Green Party's spokesperson for transport and environment, on the occasion of the publication. It is also clear on a technical level "that we can better tackle the mobility and climate policy challenges of the future than with this concrete project from the last century," said Hammer regarding the alternative proposal with the expansion of public transport and rail freight. In the report prepared by the Environment Agency Austria in cooperation with TU Graz and TU Wien, the ecological impacts of the planned Lobau highway and its alternatives were examined on more than 500 pages. It also shows "that the Lobau Tunnel is not only the most expensive of the four examined variants and has the greatest negative impacts on the environment and population, but also represents the worst variant from a mobility perspective," stated the mobility organization VCÖ.

NGOs See Better Alternatives to the Lobau Tunnel

Environmental protection organizations welcomed Gewessler's recommendation to cancel the project. "With the expansion of public transport, cheaper and better alternatives are obvious," said Johannes Wahlmüller, climate and energy spokesperson for Global 2000. The WWF also warns of a "billion-euro grave Lobau Tunnel" as this variant is expected to cost 2.4 billion euros according to the SP-V. "At the same time, the examining experts expect that the Southeast Tangent (A23) will be only slightly relieved, but especially in the districts north of the Danube, the traffic burden would even increase significantly," the WWF continued. "Now better alternatives are on the table. The upcoming government is challenged to take the situation seriously and remove the tunnel from the Federal Roads Act once and for all," said Jasmin Duregger, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria.

"Strategic Assessment" on Lobau Tunnel: Criticism from Lower Austria

Criticism of Gewessler came from Lower Austria. Anyone who still does not understand that a rapidly growing metropolitan area absolutely needs public transport and individual traffic apparently sees the world only through dark green glasses and "has no idea of the reality of life for people affected by daily traffic jams, delays, and noise pollution," responded Matthias Zauner, state manager of the People's Party. Deputy Governor and Transport Provincial Councilor Udo Landbauer (FPÖ) described the report of the Environment Agency Austria as a "pure commissioned work of the green transport minister." The subordinate officials had apparently "long since set aside any objectivity."

(APA/Red)

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