Skip to main content

Disagreement in Germany over new road funding plans

There is major disagreement in Germany over plans for a new approach to financing road development proposed by the government. The authorities in the states are objecting to the government proposal to open a road fund, which will be responsible for building and maintaining the major routes roads and which would be able to award contracts to private companies. The federal states currently have responsibility for the road-building work with, funding coming from central sources and they do not want to lose inf
February 24, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Significant investment is required for Germany’s Autobahn network so as to upgrade existing routes and add much-needed capacity
There is major disagreement in Germany over plans for a new approach to financing road development proposed by the government. The authorities in the states are objecting to the government proposal to open a road fund, which will be responsible for building and maintaining the major routes roads and which would be able to award contracts to private companies. The federal states currently have responsibility for the road-building work with, funding coming from central sources and they do not want to lose influence. The German Finance Ministry says that road development is underfunded in the country. Some €10 billion is spent on road development/year at present in Germany. For the road programme to be achieved, the annual spending will have to rise to €14 billion by 2018. Germany’s Federal Government does not believe that the states will be able to implement the necessary road-building programmes within the timeframe however. The German Transport Ministry expects goods transport to increase by 40% over the next few years, which is why central planning is necessary.

Related Content

  • EAPA’s 10th Symposium: sustainability and communication issues
    July 19, 2017
    Sustainability and the highways sector’s image issue were two major themes at the 10th symposium of the European Asphalt Paving Association in Paris. Margo Cole reports. Sustainability was explicit or implicit in many presentations during EAPA’s biennial symposium for the paving supply chain. The industry feels that sustainability is its home territory, thanks to an already good – and getting even better - record of recycling of materials. But do buyers and users of roads realise that the design and contrac
  • US Government set to invest US$74.5 billion in transport
    March 15, 2012
    The US Government is set to invest US$74.5billion in transport improvements in the 2013 financial year (October 1, 2012-September 30, 2013), President Barack Obama has revealed.
  • McBains Cooper wins PPP consultancy contract in Medellin, Colombia
    May 18, 2016
    Construction consultants McBains Cooper has won a contract to help improve public-private partnership skill for the Colombian city of Medellin. McBains will train Medellin PPP Agency to help implement PPP procured projects in the city, Colombia’s second largest. Apart from road works that will include a new urban highway, projects will be across the transportation sector as well as in education such as school construction. Santiago Klein, international director at McBains Cooper, said the objective of
  • Series of road projects due for Peru
    July 12, 2012
    A major road building programme is expected in Peru in due course. The country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) in Peru is planning 12 road concessions that will extend some 4,740km. These concessions will be worth in excess of US$3 billion in the period up to 2016. Peru’s Government wants to continue progress made so far in improving connectivity in the country and also with its neighbours.