Traffic infrastructure in danger: cities are fighting for renovation backlog!

Traffic infrastructure in danger: cities are fighting for renovation backlog!

The city of Klagenfurt struggles with a deficit household and plans extensive austerity measures to solve the financial problems. The newly formed consolidation staff works on specific savings proposals, which are to be presented by the end of February. It was recently decided not to provide any voluntary grants for monthly tickets in public transport from the end of March, which could save the city up to 450,000 euros annually. Nevertheless, there are also positive developments: The city will receive 72,000 euros more from the state of Carinthia for regular traffic and from 2026 tourists in Klagenfurt will be able to use public transport free of charge, supported by an additional 350,000 euros annually on the country, such as klick-kaernten.at reported.

outdated infrastructure and the need for investments

The challenges for the transport infrastructure in the cities are diverse and often chronic. Overloaded streets and dilapidated bridges shape the picture in many places and have a negative impact on the quality of life. Especially in municipalities that are financially limited, there is often little scope for necessary investments. Jan Strehmann from the German Association of Cities and Municipalities (DStGB) made it clear that the renovation backlog is enormous: 60,000 bridges in Germany are in poor condition, and the means of approaching these problems are often missing. Despite the existing funding, it is clear that the financial resources are not sufficient to make the infrastructure to be future-proof, such as "https://www.ace.de/autoClub/aCei-lenkrad/verkehr-und-und-undwelt-artikel/artikel/verkehrsinfrastructure-in-staedten/"> ace.de emphasized.

In order to ensure a modern and functional transport infrastructure, extensive and targeted renovation measures are necessary. The DStGB emphasizes that not only roads, but also the rail infrastructure must be upgraded and expanded. The traffic transition, i.e. the switch to alternative means of transport, can only be implemented if the basic functionality of the existing infrastructure is ensured. In view of the dramatic underfunding of 6.2 billion euros, the municipalities are essential to improve mobility in cities until the end of 2024.