Construction of roads nationwide halted by Ministry of Transport, potentially leaving a billion dollars unspent by 2029.
In a surprising turn of events, the federal cabinet has announced that no new kilometres of federal road will be built until 2029 [1]. This decision comes amidst a funding crisis that has put numerous road construction projects at risk.
The crisis is particularly acute in regions like Bavaria, where 18 federal roads face the possibility of construction stoppage, and in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where more than five billion euros are lacking for highways and federal roads alone from 2026 onwards [2]. A total of 29 highway projects in NRW are at risk of not being approved for construction.
The problem is not limited to these regions. There's a backlog of investments worth several billion euros for roads in states and municipalities [3]. Furthermore, funds for planning, personnel, and operational services are already lacking today [4].
According to internal government documents, not a single 'ready-to-build' road project will be implemented by 2029, and no sub-project of these halted projects will be completed [5]. The Autobahn GmbH, responsible for managing Germany's Autobahn network, is at its limit and had to stop all new tenders during negotiations over the supplementary budget 2025 [6].
The investment quota falls from 11.9 to 8.1 percent by 2029, despite the debt offensive [7]. This means hundreds of halted construction projects, including around 29 fully planned highway projects in NRW and almost a dozen federal road construction projects.
The majority of the funds will be invested in rail, as reported by the Berliner Zeitung [8]. However, the federal government does not have sufficient funds for the renovation of dilapidated roads in both the 2025 budget and the special fund Infrastructure & Climate Protection (SVIK) [9].
The investment package of 500 billion euros, intended for modernizing German infrastructure, has seen funds originally intended for new roads and bridges being used to replace old budget positions [10]. The ministry paper states that the financing of federal highways is not secured in many areas for the coming years, leading to significant consequences in this legislative period [11].
Around half of the total 13,000 kilometers of Autobahn in Germany are in need of renovation [12]. The regions in Germany facing a financing gap of at least 5 billion euros for highways and federal roads from 2026 onwards include NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Baden-Württemberg, among others [13]. Specific projects on highways like the A20 in northern Germany, the A1 in NRW and Rhineland-Palatinate, the A39 in Lower Saxony, as well as various projects in Hesse (e.g., Wiesbadener Kreuz, Gambacher Kreuz), and 17 projects planned in Baden-Württemberg are also threatened by funding shortages.
In a bid to manage the crisis, there is a planned increase of 59 million euros in the federal Autobahn GmbH's expenditure for operations, planning services, and administration [14]. The draft budget from the Ministry of Transport for 2025 planned a reduction in funds for the Autobahn GmbH, but Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder now has the largest investment budget [15].
Despite the challenges, more than 100 billion euros of investments during the entire legislative period are planned for rail, only 52 billion euros for federal roads [16]. The future of Germany's road infrastructure remains uncertain as the government grapples with the funding crisis.
References:
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Autobahn GmbH muss alle Neuausschreibungen stoppen
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
- **Bundesregierung baut keine Kilometer mehr Autobahn bis 2029
