From Wednesday, the first cars will be driving on the 16th construction section of the A100 between Neukölln and Treptow.
© dpa
Berlin's A100 Stadtautobahn city highway will be 3.2 kilometers longer this Wednesday.
After more than a decade of construction, the so-called 16th construction section between Neukölln and Treptow will be opened to traffic this afternoon, according to the Northeast branch of the federally owned highway company.
The 3.2 kilometer long section of freeway runs from the Neukölln junction to the Treptower Park junction. Together with the two additional on- and off-ramps Grenzallee and Sonnenallee, it comprises a total of three junctions. A large part of the route runs in a trough up to seven meters deep. The total cost of the project is reported to be 721 million euros. The section is intended to improve the connection between the east of Berlin and the Autobahn network.
"The Stadtautobahn takes the traffic out of the residential areas," said Governing Mayor Kai Wegner on RBB-Inforadio. "This will also relieve the pressure on residential areas and that is my goal, which is why I am delighted today." The next section of the freeway across the Spree towards Friedrichshain and Lichtenberg is also to be built, Wegner emphasized. This is a long-planned project of the federal government and not the state of Berlin. This would finally open up the eastern part of Berlin much more and better. "We need this efficient infrastructure in Berlin so that traffic does not run through the residential areas." Berlin "should not and cannot do without" this federal investment.
The freeway company emphasizes that the extension will relieve the city roads in Treptow and Neukölln. It will also make it easier to reach BER Airport and provide better connections to Dresden, Cottbus and Frankfurt/Oder. In the future, the highway is to be extended even further through the eastern part of the city with the so-called 17th construction section.