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ARBÖ shoots against the minister and Asfinag
Asfinag's new construction program excludes the S1 with the Lobautunnel. For the ARBÖ, this borders on “denial of reality” and it raises questions.
ARBÖ shoots against the minister and Asfinag
“It is simply unbelievable how a single person, in this case Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler, is destroying the quality of life of an entire region with more than 2 million inhabitants,” says Gerald Kumnig, ARBÖ General Secretary, angrily. The motorists' club responded with a press release to the fact that the "very important S1 with the Lobautunnel" is no longer included in Asfinag's new construction program.
The tone is quite sharp: “The supervisory board decided on the new construction program, which continues the green eco-dreams and destroys millions of euros in tax money for decades of preparatory work in a single meeting,” says the ARBÖ.
For him, the construction project is the solution and not the problem of traffic congestion, as Kumnig confirms: "Of course, the volume of traffic increases in new settlement and urban expansion areas, simply due to delivery and local traffic. But that's exactly why we need high-performance accompanying road infrastructure so that the residential areas are relieved and emissions are avoided. In the case of the S1, an entire metropolis of millions benefits from the construction, because around 70,000 fewer cars travel through the middle of the city every day would drive on the southeast bypass.”
“Destruction of tax money”
The decision to remove the Lobau Tunnel from the construction program is “absolutely unacceptable” for the mobility club. Kumnig also notes: "You have to ask yourself who is responsible for this destruction of tax money. Planning and preparatory work have been done for decades, and now that the Ministry of Transport and thus the owner of Asfinag is under green leadership, the Lobau Tunnel is suddenly no longer up to date and will be canceled without replacement? The Minister of Transport has to explain that to the people in the entire eastern region."
In any case, the ARBÖ demands compliance with the Federal Highway Act, in which the S1 is anchored and its implementation was decided by the National Council, i.e. the people's representative body. “Even if the S1 does not fit into the ideology-driven politics of the Green Transport Minister, it still has to abide by the law,” says Kumnig.