Elzer Berg
| Elzer Berg | ||
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 View from the direction of Limburg on the Lahn past Elz (right) westwards to Elzer Berg |
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| height | 291.3 m above sea level NHN | |
| location | between Elz and Görgeshausen ; District of Limburg-Weilburg and Westerwaldkreis ; Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate ( Germany ) | |
| Mountains | Westerwald | |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 24 '41 " N , 7 ° 58' 23" E | |
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| particularities | Bundesautobahn 3 , Elzer Berg tunnel , wind farm | |
The Elzer Berg is 291.3 m above sea level. NHN high elevation in the Westerwald on the western edge of the municipality Elz in the Hessian district Limburg-Weilburg with slopes in the Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis . The survey gained nationwide fame primarily because of the downhill section of the federal motorway 3, including stationary speed monitoring .
The Elzer Berg tunnel of the high-speed railway line Cologne – Rhine / Main runs under the elevation, and a wind farm was built on it around the turn of 2015/16 .
geography
location
The Elzer Berg is located in the south of the Westerwald between the core town of the Hessian community Elz (in the Limburg-Weilburg district) in the east and Niedererbach in the north, Görgeshausen (both in the Westerwald district) in the west and Hambach (in the Rhein-Lahn district) in the south, three local parishes in Rhineland-Palatinate. Its southwest branch is the Gilnauer Berg ( 290.1 m ), which joins the Nassau Nature Park in the west and south . The small Fischbach flows northwest past the Elzer Berg, which flows into the Lahn tributary Erbach at the northern Niedererbach and south past the Hambach , which flows into the Lahn at the southeastern Aull .
Parts of the Elzer forest spread out on the Elzer Berg. There are also those of the fauna-flora-habitat area Westerwälder Kuppenland (FFH no. 5413-301; 31.87 km² ) and the FFH area forest west of Elz (FFH no. 5513-302; 40.83) ha ).
Natural allocation
The Elzer Berg belongs to the natural spatial main unit group Westerwald (No. 32), in the main unit Niederwesterwald (324) and in the subunit Emsbach-Gelbach-Heights (324.0) to the natural area Eppenroder plateau (324.04). Over its eastern foothills Heidekopf ( 250 m ) the landscape falls into the natural area Hadamar-Elzer Beckenrand (311.01), which in the main unit group Gießen-Koblenzer Lahntal (31) and in the main unit Limburg Basin (311) to the subunit Inner Limburg Basin (311.1 ) counts.
traffic
Federal motorway 3
The Elzer Berg is crossed by the federal motorway 3 between the junction of Diez ( Rhein-Lahn-Kreis , Rhineland-Palatinate - kilometer 99.0) and Limburg-Nord (Limburg-Weilburg district, Hesse - kilometer 107.5). From its summit region in the Limburg Basin to Limburg an der Lahn , the A 3 has an 8 km long downhill section towards the south-east with an increasing gradient.
Accident blackspot
This long downhill stretch at motorway kilometer 100 in the direction of Frankfurt am Main is a notorious accident black spot. At the beginning of the 1970s, the statistics showed an average of 350 accidents per year. For this reason, one of the first stationary speed measurement systems was built in 1972 to monitor the existing speed restrictions. During this time the mountain was also nicknamed "Katzenbuckel" because the gradient, similar to that of a Katzenbuckel, continues to increase. Due to this topography, the driver hardly notices that he is on a downhill slope and his vehicle becomes faster almost unnoticed if he does not pay attention to the speedometer. This results in a longer braking distance, one of the main causes of accidents in the past, especially with trucks . A large poster with the inscription "Elzer Berg" was therefore placed on the autobahn. It showed a screaming black cat on whose back two trucks drove extremely close to one another. This shield was later dismantled, probably when the facilities were renewed in 1998.
The traffic surveillance measure was a resounding success. In the following years, the number of accidents fell significantly. In 1999 there were still 64 accidents, although the average daily traffic volume rose to 88,000 vehicles.
Stationary traffic monitoring measures only took place on the downhill section towards Limburg. In the direction of Montabaur, however, temporary speed limits are set, which road users are informed of by electronic display boards .
Speed monitoring
The speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour was monitored by two stationary speed measurement systems. These were installed in the second and third gantries and were temporarily secured with guards due to vandalism, for which the gantries even have a small cabin next to the roadway. For example, the cameras were shot at several times and even stolen in 1994.
Behind the third sign gantry, checks are occasionally carried out using radar or light barriers. In the right-hand lane there was a speed limit of 40 km / h until May 2009 and a top speed of 60 km / h until November 2014. Since then, the top speed of 100 km / h has been displayed on all three lanes. Originally four sign gantries were erected, the fourth and last following, which had no speed measurement systems, was dismantled a few years ago.
Contrary to popular belief, the speed restrictions mentioned apply to all vehicle types, as there are no restrictions by additional symbols. In practice, however, a maximum speed of 100 km / h was assumed for passenger cars in the right-hand lane. The system was triggered at a speed of between 60 and 100 km / h, but the relevant images were subsequently sorted out without issuing a fine. This was intended to avoid a conflict with the right-hand drive requirement in light truck traffic - for example at night or on Sundays.
In 2006 alone, 93,000 speeding violations were detected on Elzer Berg and fines of 1.8 million euros were received .
Surveillance technology has been updated regularly over the years. In December 1998, the dilapidated sign bridge on Elzer Berg was replaced by a new one. The Hessian Ministry of the Interior carried out a temporary technical function test for automatic license plate recognition on Elzer Berg in autumn 2003 without any data being saved.
On September 20, 2019, the system, including the gantries, was dismantled because the permanent stability of the gantries was no longer guaranteed and renovation was not possible. Checks with an enforcement trailer will take place until a planned new speed measurement system is set up .
More streets
About 2 km west of the summit of the Elzer Berg, near Görgeshausen, there is the Diez junction of the A 3 crossing the state road 318 there . The L 3447 branches off the state road on the northern edge of the village and leads east-south-east over the southern slopes of the mountain to Staffel . From the latter, the district road 164 branches off in Görgeshausen , which runs north-east into Niedererbach in Rhineland-Palatinate. There it meets the K 156, which merges at the Hessian border into the K 346 leading southeast to Elz.
Elzer Berg tunnel
The 1.11 km long Elzer Berg tunnel on the Cologne – Rhine / Main high-speed line runs through Elzer Berg , a railway tunnel that was opened in 2002 between Elz and Görgeshausen.
Wind farm
In 2010, planning began for a wind farm on Elzer Berg. Measurements at a height of 140 meters above the ground showed wind speeds of 6.0 to 6.2 m / s, which makes the location economical. After the plans were submitted in 2013, the building permit was granted in early summer 2014.
Since summer 2015, a wind farm with six Nordex N117 / 2400 turbines has been built north and south of the motorway and the Cologne – Rhine / Main high-speed line for 22.297 million euros . The turbines have a hub height of 141 meters, a rotor diameter of 117 meters and a total height of around 199 meters and are therefore so-called low-wind systems. The executing company is the Brandenburg based ENERTRAG AG . The six systems have been completed since May 2016.
A separate provisional motorway exit from the A 3 was built for the delivery of the components, for this reason no heavy goods traffic had to pass through the municipality of Elz.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
- ↑ Heinrich Müller-Miny, Martin Bürgener: Geographical land survey: The natural spatial units on sheet 138 Koblenz. Federal Institute for Regional Studies, Bad Godesberg 1971. → Online map (PDF; 5.7 MB)
- ↑ Felke, D. (1988). 15 years of traffic monitoring on Elzer Berg. Hessische Polizei Rundschau, 11, 19–22
- ↑ Illustration of the poster. Retrieved October 8, 2015 .
- ^ Frankfurter Neue Presse, February 16, 2000
- ↑ Picture from January 9th, 2015: On Elzer Berg completely different celebrities have been caught ... Retrieved on October 8th, 2015 .
- ↑ Speed limit on Elzer Berg: 100 on all lanes ( Memento from November 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (Frankfurter Neue Presse), from November 6, 2014, on fnp.de.
- ↑ Elzer Berg - Speed Limit ... , Verkehrsportal-Forum from February 22, 2014
- ↑ German Police 4/2004, p. 16.
- ↑ Radar systems dismantled on Elzer Berg: Why speeders should still be careful. Retrieved September 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Rows of celebrities flashed - speed cameras on A3 at Elzer Berg are gone. October 4, 2019, accessed October 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Nassauische Neue Presse of August 13, 2015: Fresh breeze for the community treasury. Retrieved October 8, 2015 .
- ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: electricity should flow in June )
