Investments in East Brandenburg: How to improve transport connections!

Investments in East Brandenburg: How to improve transport connections!

Representatives of the Oder-Spree region have once again urged the need for investments in transport infrastructure. Rainer Schinkel, the economic councilor for Märkisch-Oderland, as well as Robert Radzimanowski from the IHK Ostbrandenburg and Sascha Gehm, the first councilor for the Oder-Spree district, jointly emphasized the central importance of modern transport connections for the economic development of the region. They demand that the funds promised by the federal government actually flow into the region's infrastructure in order to meet the existing challenges. The Oder-Spree district reports that The current transport infrastructure in East Brandenburg is both overloaded and outdated.

Amidst these demands, attention was drawn to the challenges that characterize the district. Important traffic arteries such as the A12 motorway, the B1 federal highway and the Eastern Railway line are overloaded, which has a negative impact on both the quality of life of residents and the region's economic opportunities. Sascha Gehm noted that a well-developed infrastructure is crucial for employment and the general quality of life. He also emphasized the urgently needed concrete investments as a signal of appreciation for the region.

Successful projects in the area

One bright spot are successful infrastructure measures near the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide. These include, among other things, the connection via the L38 state road and the new Fangschleuse train station, which can be viewed as positive examples of targeted promotion of transport connections. The official announcement from the ministry highlights that an expansion of the road infrastructure has been underway at the site since October 2022. A new flyover was built next to the existing bridge over the A10 to accommodate the growing traffic.

As part of these measures, two lanes were created on the A10 for access to the L38 state road. The construction work to date also includes the repair of existing traffic routes, which has allowed most of the traffic to bypass the construction sites. In total, the federal government invested around 6 million euros, while the state of Brandenburg contributed around 2.1 million euros to converting the Freienbrink junction.

Long-term investment strategy

A comprehensive expansion is planned for the L38 in cooperation with Tesla, which will include two lanes in each direction and additional turning lanes since summer 2022. However, the conversion of the L23 / L38 roundabout into a traffic light-controlled intersection is still under construction and completion is expected by the end of the year. Preparatory work for the renewal of the L23 carriageway began in April 2024 and will last until the end of 2024.

However, the challenges for the region remain great. The Oder-Spree Canal is an important east-west connection, but there are bottlenecks here, for example due to the inadequately developed Fürstenwalde lock. For this reason, the district is calling for accelerated planning procedures and a targeted allocation of funding in order to adapt infrastructure projects to regional needs and find long-term solutions.