Pirna – The new abbreviation to Saxon Switzerland, it should be ready in 2023. But now it is already clear: the short B 172n with its two bridges and a tunnel will be the most expensive stretch of road in Saxony.
Announced in 2015 at 67 million euros, then at 97 million euros when construction started in 2017, the 3.8-kilometer bypass will now cost at least 160 million euros.
For comparison: Saxony’s problematic A72 motorway near Leipzig, which leads over a coal mine, already costs 38 million per kilometer. But here there are four tracks. At Pirna (mainly two lanes) there are already 42 million per kilometer.
The long-term project was slimmed down before construction began, and the intersection-free connection on the Sonnenstein was slashed into a traffic light intersection.
Site manager Ulrich Gawlas (69) on BILD: “The 160 million euros are calculated with a buffer and should hopefully be enough. But we’re still building for two years … “
123 of 250 meters of tunnel meters have already been dug. But the tunneling technology (dug instead of drilled) was questioned again because of the crumbly rock. But it should continue at the end of September.
For this purpose, the first bridge piers were connected over the Gottleubatal on Friday – the 916 meter long bridge should be in place by the end of next year.
Thomas Meyer (60), President of the Saxon Taxpayers’ Association: “At 42 million euros in construction costs per kilometer of road, the alarm bells are ringing for me! An average of 27 million euros is calculated for motorway kilometers. Did you not recognize additional costs here or did the project work out nicely from the start? That has to be investigated, how costs could skyrocket! ”
.