Expand roads quickly: Minister of Transport reiterates his demand

Before the meeting of the coalition committee on Thursday, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) reiterated his call for roads to be expanded quickly. Wissing said in the RTL and ntv program “Frühstart” that ten times as many goods were transported by road as by rail. “So if you don’t want any more roads, you want our industrial society to be dismantled.”

Wissing argued that if the construction and expansion of roads were declared to be of “overriding public interest”, this would not lead to more road construction, only to faster construction. “And it doesn’t matter to the environment whether a road is built slowly or quickly.”

For example, an expansion of the trans-European networks or a connection to the Ukraine is necessary if it is to orientate itself towards the west. “So of course it’s silly to think you could just freeze the road network and leave it like that forever. That is an idea that does not do justice to the reality of a society,” said the minister. By the way, the expansion and new construction of roads does not encourage more car traffic. “Traffic is not stimulated by roads, but traffic is stimulated by the needs of society.”

But also: A few billion euros are needed for rail

For rail, Wissing called for “significantly more money in the next few years”. The rail has been neglected. Wissing spoke of “several” billion euros. He cannot say whether there will also be a solution in the coalition committee.

The Transport Minister resolutely opposed the abolition of biofuel by 2030 demanded by Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). “If you do without biofuel now, then you have to answer the question of how we can then achieve the climate protection goals in transport,” he told RTL and ntv. That’s hard enough today. “We don’t need any suggestions now to make this even more difficult.”

Of course, it’s silly to think you could just freeze the road network and leave it like that forever.

Volker Wissing, Federal Transport Minister

A liter of biofuel saves 84 percent of CO2 emissions compared to a liter of fossil fuel, the minister said. A concept is needed as to how the emissions are to be compensated – but that is not available. The effects on agriculture are not yet clear.

The coalition committee meets in the evening. Green leader Ricarda Lang called on Wissing in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” to do significantly more for climate protection in the transport sector. “Instead of speculating about further climate-damaging measures, such as accelerating the construction of new motorways, there is now an urgent need for a plan on how traffic can achieve its climate goals,” she told the newspaper. (AFP)

To home page