Linz Autobahn

This article describes the A 26 motorway in the Linz municipal area. For the A 25, formerly known as the Linz motorway, see Wels motorway .

A26 motorway in Austria
Linz Autobahn
map
 Under construction     In planning
Basic data
Operator:
Overall length:	4.7 km
of which under construction:	0.3 km
of which in planning:	4.4 km
State :	Upper Austria
Course of the road Province of Upper Austria Hummelhof node   Unionstrasse West bridge Conversion planned: West Bridge Waldeggstrasse Underground route Waldeggstrasse ( 600 m ) Central Station Freinberg Tunnel ( 3,200 m ) Danube South Fourth Linz Danube Bridge ( 325 m ) Mühlkreisbahn Danube north Under construction In planning Section Control Traffic control system

The Linz motorway A 26 (also known as Linzer Westring ) is a partially planned and under construction motorway in Austria . It is currently being planned by ASFINAG and is intended to relieve the existing Mühlkreis Autobahn (A 7) and the streets in the Linz city ​​area, especially the Nibelungen Bridge , the Römerberg Tunnel and Kapuzinerstraße / Hopfengasse / Sandgasse / Kellergasse / Waldeggstraße. Its length will be 4.7 km (including 4 km tunnel). The only existing section is from the Hummelhof junction to the West Bridge, which currently serves as a feeder road to the A 7. The total costs are expected to be around EUR 668 million (85 percent is borne by ASFINAG, ten percent by the state of Upper Austria and five percent by the city ​​of Linz). The preparatory work began in summer 2017, construction began in December 2018 and will take place in three phases. The complete traffic opening should take place in 2031 .

Until the amendment to the Federal Roads Act 2003, in which the Linzer Westring was codified as “A 26 Linz Motorway”, today's Welser Autobahn (A 25) was called “Linz Motorway”.

Route

Map of the A 26 Linz motorway (map from Openstreetmap)

The route begins in the south at the existing west bridge (which is being rebuilt to match the course) as a connection to the A 7 at the Hummelhof junction . As an underfloor route, the motorway runs to the main station , from where it leads in the 3 km long Freinberg tunnel to the Danube and over the Fourth Linz Danube Bridge to the Danube-North junction . The tunnel is to be built with two tubes with hard shoulder .

Construction phases

The construction of the motorway is to take place in three phases:

1. Danube bridge
2. Freinberg tunnel (with connection to Kärntner Straße / main train station) and underground route Waldeggstraße
3. New construction of the west bridge and closure of the gap to the Mühlkreis Autobahn (A7)

The first construction phase includes the 4th Danube crossing in Linz, which extends over 325 meters between the Freinberg and the Urfahrwänd nature reserve . The bridge opens directly into a tunnel on both sides. The second construction phase includes the 3.2 kilometer long Freinberg tunnel from the Danube to the main station as well as the underground route (built using the cut-and-cover method) in place of today's Waldeggstrasse. In the third construction phase, the West Bridge is to be rebuilt over the Westbahn with connection to the A 7 Mühlkreis Autobahn and the Unionstraße junction.

The schedule for the construction phases is as of October 2017 (according to ASFINAG ) as follows:

• Preparatory work for the Danube bridge: construction start summer 2017 to 2018
• Danube bridge: start of construction 2019 to 2023
• Freinberg tunnel: start of construction 2024 to 2028
• New construction of the west bridge and closure of the gap to the Mühlkreis Autobahn: start of construction 2029 to 2031

In December 2014, the environmental impact assessment was completed and a positive decision was issued.

Toll exemption during the construction period

In 2019 it was decided ( Federal Law Gazette I No. 107/2019 ) that the remaining parts of the Linz motorway (Danube bridge, Freinberg tunnel) will be exempt from the vignette requirement until the gap to the Mühlkreis motorway is opened to traffic.

Effects on the urban area

The state government claims that the Linz city area, especially the inner city, will be relieved as a result of the project. A study commissioned by the Linz City Administration found that relief is limited to Waldeggstraße and the Danube area, while traffic increases of between 131% (Blumauerstraße), 28% (Goethestraße) and 16% (Gruberstraße) are to be expected in the rest of the city.

According to the former regional councilor Franz Hiesl , the Westring would help to improve the air quality in Linz. An investigation by the Federal Environment Agency in the course of the environmental impact assessment found that the Westring would exceed the pollutant limit values ​​in inner-city areas to such an extent that, according to legal criteria, there should be neither residential accommodation nor public access.

The Federal Environment Agency also stated:

- The effects of the planned project thus clearly stand in the way of achieving the goals of the Kyoto Protocol and other binding emission reduction targets such as the Air Maximum Emissions Act.

- The calculated value of the time savings in 2025 is therefore not understandable. (...) If one therefore does not assume that the project will save any time in 2025, the benefit-cost ratio of the planned investment is max. 0.60 and thus falls below the limit of realizability. According to the information in the documents (p. 12), a project is economically worthwhile as soon as the benefit-cost ratio is> 1.

- Furthermore, it is not understandable why, instead of the total emissions of the project, only local emissions are used for the cost calculation.

- According to the information in the documents, the “Tempo 60” and “ noise protection wall ” measures mean that the irrelevance threshold for NO2 and PM10 is no longer exceeded for the next residents. Irrespective of this, however, the model calculations for PM10 and NO2 for 2012 and 2015 and beyond, as in the zero variant, show that the limit values ​​were exceeded.

history

The Westring was designed in 1972 by the transport planner Kurt Leibbrand between the Danube-North junction through Urfahr and St. Margarethen. In 1983 the location of the Danube crossing was specified in the Federal Roads Act, the construction project failed due to resistance from the population. In 2002, the Westring in the form planned since 2000 was included in the Federal Roads Act, and in 2008 the environmental impact assessment began. At that time, a 2.8 kilometer long Pöstlingberg tunnel was planned in addition to the route planned today , which was to continue the route to Heilham and to merge with the A 7 northwest of the VOEST bridge at an Urfahr junction to be built in the Pro-Kaufland area .

In 2010 the Ministry of Infrastructure downgraded the project and called for implementation as a state road . After talks between the federal government, the state of Upper Austria and the city of Linz, a compromise was reached in January 2011, according to which only the southern part from the Hummelhof junction to the Danube and the Danube bridge will be built, but not the northern part with the Pöstlingberg tunnel. The associated change in the course of the road was incorporated into the Federal Roads Act in July 2011.

Political controversy

The construction of the Linz West ring is criticized by several citizens' groups, the Linzer green KPÖ and other organizations mainly for environmental reasons, while the projects of the Austrian People's Party , the Social Democratic Party , the Freedom Party and the areas where it is, the BZÖ advocates becomes.

The opponents of the project criticize u. a. the costs of the construction project, the increased traffic volume due to the Westring and the state's information practices.

Web links

• Project description (ASFINAG)
• www.westring.at/ Citizens' initiative against the construction of the A26
• Statement by the Ministry of Life on the construction of the A26 (PDF; 214 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} A 26 Linz motorway junction Linz Hummelhof (A 7) - Danube North junction , ASFINAG , accessed on April 3, 2019
2. ↑ derstandard.at: Positive EIA notification for Linzer Westring
3. ^ Homepage of the Province of Upper Austria, accessed on December 5, 2010
4. ^ Effects of the Westring on the road network, press release by the Linz City Administration, July 8, 2008
5. ↑ Homepage of Landesrat Franz Hiesl  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Statement of the BMLFUW on the environmental impact declaration submitted, August 13, 2009 (PDF; 214 kB)
7. ↑ General traffic plan for Linz. On behalf of the magistrate d. State capital Linz set up by VIP - Verkehrs- u. Industrial planning GmbH, Frankfurt / M. Edit v. Kurt Leibbrand [among others]. 1972.
8. ↑ The chronology of the west ring. ORF Upper Austria, December 5, 2010.
9. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 62/2011