NRW A42 motorway: ten days closure due to bridge construction from June 2025!

NRW A42 motorway: ten days closure due to bridge construction from June 2025!

The A42 motorway will be completely closed for ten days in June 2025 in order to build a new pipe bridge. This emerges from a communication from the Building and Transport Committee of the city of Bottrop, which was published on December 3, 2024. The closure affects the section between Essen-Nord and Bottrop-Süd and is necessary because the existing, dilapidated bridge is not designed for future traffic needs. This bridge currently enables the transport of oil to BP's subsidiary Ruhr-Öl and needs to be replaced due to the planned six-lane expansion of the motorway section. According to Autobahn GmbH, an increase in traffic volume is expected in the next five years, which is why the construction of the new bridge is seen as urgent ruhr24.de reported.

This full closure follows the recent closure of the A42 bridge over the Rhine-Herne Canal, which was temporarily closed in December 2023 due to significant defects. Traffic expert Prof. Dr. Roman Suthold from the ADAC stated that the bridge, which is over 50 years old, is in great need of renovation and calls for accelerated maintenance of the over 90 bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia, which have to be repaired annually in order to avoid further deterioration. In this context, he criticized the inadequate communication from Autobahn GmbH, which did not inform the affected cities about the closures in a timely manner. The bridge remains closed to trucks over 3.5 tonnes, requiring extensive diversions ADAC reported.