Dispute over infrastructure

Mikl-Leitner on the Gewessler era: “Lost years”

Governor of Lower Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP)

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

On Monday, Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer will comment on infrastructure plans for which the Green Minister Leonore Gewessler is still responsible. The Chancellor and Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria, are both insisting on the construction of the Lobau Tunnel. The head of the province even describes Gewessler's time in office as "lost years" in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.

ÖVP Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer is hosting a press conference on Monday on the topic of "Growth through infrastructure expansion". According to reports, head of government Nehammer will call for a rethink of infrastructure policy and insist that legally planned projects, such as the construction of the Lobau Tunnel, be adhered to. "Away from everything that should not be built and towards a debate about what must be built. Less ideology, more realism," says the ÖVP.

Transport routes as the basis for competitiveness 
Austria's most powerful ÖVP politician Mikl-Leitner is even more specific. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, she criticized the Green transport minister's time in office as "lost years for infrastructure development". After all, well-developed transport routes are the basis for international business relocations and thus for the competitiveness of the location. 

"And what happens when road construction is neglected can also be seen in Germany: a creeping loss of prosperity. It will have to be one of the priority tasks of the next federal government under the leadership of Chancellor Karl Nehammer to eradicate these shortcomings," said the state chairwoman. Not only the S8 and S34 must finally be implemented, but also the S1 and the Lobau tunnel.

Drivers in the affected areas have suffered long enough from the "misguided and lawless transport policy, which closes its eyes to reality, disregards laws and only produces traffic jams and commuter frustration", criticizes the governor.