Conditions of roads filled with moving vehicles - Research Shows Expanding the A5 to Ten Lanes is Feasible
Every day, numerous cars cross paths at the Frankfurt Interchange - a notorious traffic knot and junction in Germany. Talks about expanding the A5 motorway have gone on for years. A thorough analysis by an engineering company on the possible expansion between the Frankfurt Interchange and the Friedberg junction reveals that ten lanes can technically be added. This solution would enable smooth traffic flow, revealed the Autobahn GmbH on a recent day. However, objections to this extension have started pouring in from environmentalists.
Considering the projected traffic volume, four potential options were contemplated. Apart from ensuring fluid traffic, other factors examined were the environmental impact, land consumption, air pollution, and noise barriers. To have ten lanes in both directions, the estimated cost would reach 1.1 billion euros, reports suggest.
"Roadways with five-lane directional lanes have never been constructed in Germany except in cases where junctions are positioned very close to each other," the study adds. Wider sections with this configuration are prevalent in metropolitan areas in the United States, since their usage dates back to the 1960s.
Alternative ideas, such as designating separate lanes for regional and long-distance traffic over longer distances, have not been implemented in Germany.
The study was initiated in 2019 by the responsible Mobility Authority in Hesse. Its primary objective was to evaluate two sections: one from the Frankfurt Interchange to the Northwest Interchange, and the other from the Northwest Interchange to the Friedberg junction. Critical aspects such as traffic safety, width, routing, drainage, and noise protection were taken into consideration, while further research is planned, according to the Autobahn GmbH.
Commenting on the study, Hessian Economics Minister Kaweh Mansoori (SPD) stated that the document is one of several steps preceding the decision-making process and does not dictate any particular route. "The ten-lane expansion is not predetermined or even engraved by the study," he said. Earlier, he had informed Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) that a ten-lane expansion could only be achieved via urban planning, i.e., a motorway redesign. Currently, we acknowledge that a ten-lane expansion of the A5 will incur billions of costs and necessitate complex noise protection measures.
The Federation for Environment and Nature (BUND), on the other hand, has voiced concerns about the expansion, as it will seemingly accelerate climate change. In February, the BUND requested the Hessian state government to focus on maintaining existing infrastructures and prioritize rail infrastructure instead. Their website affirms that a transport shift implies emphasis and not expansion.
Frankfurt City is also opposed to the expansion, announcing that they expect the Federal Transport Ministry to reject the project from the needs plan review and cease any further planning efforts. The motorway network of the Rhine-Main region is among the most dense globally, significantly contributing to the concentration of road traffic in the metropolitan area.
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- Despite the feasibility study indicating that expanding the A5 motorway from Frankfurt Interchange to Friedberg junction to ten lanes is technologically possible, environmental concerns, particularly from groups like the BUND in Hesse, have surfaced.
- The BUND has suggested maintaining existing infrastructures and prioritizing rail infrastructure instead of pursuing the ten-lane expansion, arguing that it could accelerate climate change.
- The expansion plan for the A5 motorway has faced opposition not only from environmentalists but also from Frankfurt City, which expects the Federal Transport Ministry to reject the project from the needs plan review and cease further planning efforts.
- To explore alternative solutions, the study examined four potential options, considering factors like traffic volume, environmental impact, land consumption, air pollution, and noise barriers.
- The feasibility study, initiated in 2019 by the Hesse Mobility Authority, also suggested that decades-old, five-lane directional lanes have never been constructed in Germany, except for junctions close together, and wider sections with this configuration are common in metropolitan areas in the United States.
