Heavy goods traffic in the border area: Salzburg sticks to measures
For years, the dispute between the Salzburger Land and the Upper Bavarian neighboring communities has been smoldering. Since Salzburg introduced driving bans for heavy goods traffic on Austrian federal and state roads in 2020, more trucks have been thundering through Upper Bavarian towns. The district administrators of Traunstein and the Berchtesgadener Land and nine mayors of affected Bavarian towns and communities had therefore sent three fire letters two weeks ago: to the Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann (CSU), the Minister of Transport Christian Bernreiter (CSU) and the Salzburg State Transport Councilor Stefan Schnöll (ÖVP). . A first reaction came from Salzburg.
Transport Council appeals to the Bavarian state government
When asked by the BR, Schnöll said that Salzburg had made important investments in the traffic turnaround in the border area in recent years and would continue to do so. “Since both the Bavarian and the Salzburg municipalities are suffering from the traffic situation, it would be urgently necessary to address the concerns to the state government in Munich in order to make progress in essential areas of traffic, especially in the area near the border,” explained Schnöll. He is always ready for talks with the Bavarian state government.
Also the district administrator will support the state government
In the Berchtesgadener Land, everything is still being done to find solutions through discussions with the Austrian neighbors, said district administrator Bernhard Kern when asked by BR. “Regardless of this, we are of course also dependent on the support of the Bavarian state government,” says Kern.
It should not be the case that the traffic problems in the border regions continue to increase due to unilateral measures by the Austrian authorities. Measures by the Bavarian state government are therefore also necessary.
There are three traffic problems to be solved
At the beginning of April, the district administrators of Traunstein and the Berchtesgadener Land as well as nine mayors of Bavarian towns and communities in the border area to Salzburg had written to the transport state council demanding an end to the “unilateral, uncoordinated” Austrian transport measures, from which the south-eastern Bavarian region had been suffering for years. Two other letters were addressed to Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) and Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU).
It’s about the significant increase in heavy goods traffic along the B12 and B20 since Salzburg introduced driving bans for heavy goods traffic on Austrian federal and state roads in 2020. The mayor also complains about the increasing traffic load caused by truck transit traffic through the Kleine Deutsches Eck near Bad Reichenhall due to the block handling near Kufstein. The third point of contention is the planned block handling at Walserberg, which the state government of Salzburg announced at the end of 2021. These are currently being examined technically and legally, according to the office of the Salzburg State Transport Council.
Conversations instead of faits accomplis
District administrator Bernhard Kern fears that Bavarian interests will be taken into account accordingly. However, should block handling actually be introduced at the Walserberg and traffic be further shifted to the Bavarian side as a result, suitable countermeasures would have to be taken to prevent one-sided loading. “Here, too, we depend on the support of the Bavarian state government,” said the district administrator. Meanwhile, he is relying on talks with the Austrian authorities so as not to be faced with a fait accompli.