Gewessler uproar

Ministry wants Vorarlberg to bury S18

The current version of the S18 would bypass the town of Lustenau.

(Bild: Stiplovsek Dietmar)

As the APA reports, citing a working agreement that has not yet been finalized, the Climate Protection Ministry of Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) wants to persuade the state of Vorarlberg to abandon the S18 expressway project.

In accordance with the working agreement, the ministry is proposing to the state and Asfinag that the route of the S18 be removed from the Federal Roads Act. Instead, congestion is to be relieved via lower-ranking roads, with the federal government bearing the entire cost. The argument is that a lower-ranking solution would entail fewer approval risks and that a gradual implementation could relieve the traffic-plagued municipalities more quickly. However, talks with the state of Vorarlberg have not yet taken place. "This is a working paper that has not yet been finalized," said the ministry. However, there must be "better solutions than a highway through a nature reserve and the separation of residential and recreational areas".

Leonore Gewessler is once again driving the ÖVP, this time in the federal state.

(Bild: SEPA.Media/Michael Indra)

How should this development be assessed? Firstly, we should keep our heads down. As is well known, elections will be held in the fall in both the federal and state governments. In this respect, the "work in progress" can certainly be seen as Gewessler's support for his Green party colleagues in the federal state. The content itself is also not surprising, as the minister's reservations about the expressway project have been known for a long time - and are also shared by many in Vorarlberg. In a referendum, for example, the people of Lustenau voted by a large majority against the current plans to bypass the market town.

In view of the upcoming elections, the ministry's statement that no talks have yet been held with the state of Vorarlberg seems like a joke. Or does anyone really believe that a solution can be found for a project that has been the subject of heated debate for decades, now of all times during the hot election campaign phase? Apart from the fact that the balance of power is likely to be different after the elections anyway.

Vorarlberg's provincial leader Markus Wallner is not very happy with Gewessler's plans.

(Bild: VLK/Bernd Hofmeister)

Moreover, it would be tantamount to a declaration of political bankruptcy if Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP), who would prefer to see the S18 implemented sooner rather than later, were to make a U-turn now. His first reaction was correspondingly harsh: "There is a clear legal provision that must be adhered to. The minister can make suggestions, but there is a basic requirement and that is: A highway connection must be created!" Addendum: "Ms. Gewessler is in some kind of maze where nobody knows where she actually wants to go and she has to find her own way out."

The S18 expressway project
The planned Lake Constance expressway S18 is an approximately 8.5-kilometre-long bypass around Lustenau - costing around two billion euros - starting from the Dornbirn-West freeway junction in Switzerland to St. Margrethen (canton of St. Gallen) - this would also create a high-level link between the two freeway systems in Switzerland and Austria. The S18 would have a relief effect above all for Lustenau, but also for the Lake Constance communities.