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Hamburg (dpa / lno) – birdsong instead of car noise – this dream for thousands of residents of the A7 in Hamburg-Stellingen comes true. A good two years after completion of the 900 meter long noise protection tunnel, a park will be laid out on the tunnel roof above the eight-lane motorway. The senators for transport, environment and urban development, Anjes Tjarks, Jens Kerstan (both Greens) and Karen Pein (SPD), together with representatives of the Eimsbüttel district office, made the first symbolic groundbreaking for the new green area on Wednesday. Trees, shrubs and perennials are to be planted on the concrete cover by next summer. 41 allotment gardens as well as sports and play facilities are also planned. The 5.3 hectare facility costs 5.7 million euros.

The noise protection tunnel above the widened motorway was fully operational in February 2021. In the meantime, 63,000 tons of earth have been piled up on the tunnel roof and the first paths have been built. The green area should not only reunite the district that has been cut up for more than four decades, but also create a connection to a local recreation area.

Since September last year there has already been a three-hectare park on the noise protection tunnel further north in Hamburg-Schnelsen. This 550 meter long tunnel above the six-lane motorway there was completed at the end of 2019. A third noise protection tunnel with a length of a good two kilometers is under construction in the Altona area. It is scheduled to go into operation in 2028. This structure is also intended to connect the previously divided parts of the city to the east and west of the A7 with a green area on the tunnel roof.

“Some measures are simply a win-win situation,” said Kerstan. The green roof is practiced noise protection, a district repair and a measure for climate adaptation. More trees would be planted than needed to compensate for widening the highway to eight lanes. Tens of thousands of local residents would have a green oasis, and wild bees and other insects would have a habitat in the wildflower areas.

The reason for the project is the expansion of the A7, said Tjarks. 130,000 to 140,000 vehicles rolled over the important north-south axis every day. “Overall, it’s a real project,” said the Senator for Transport and Mobility. The A7 connects the port with the rest of Europe. Traffic must flow sensibly, but at the same time the damage to the environment must be minimized.

Buildings cannot be built on the noise protection tunnels due to the statics. Nevertheless, the 27 hectares of green space allow the construction of 3800 residential units elsewhere in Hamburg. Allotment gardens can be relocated, while at the same time compensating areas for construction projects are created. “In this respect, this is also an area shift,” said Senator for Urban Development Pein.

Another noise protection tunnel with a length of 1.5 kilometers is planned in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. This “cover” is intended to protect residents from the noise of the future A26-Ost, which as a 9.7-kilometer-long port passage is intended to connect the A7 near Hamburg-Moorburg with the A1 near Stillhorn. The Greens are critical of the project, but approved it in the coalition agreement with the SPD. “The federal government is the one driving this forward,” Tjarks said. “And if you do that, it is of course very important that you also minimize the damage there – especially the noise emissions.” In this respect, the lid in Wilhelmsburg is a step in the right direction.

Kerstan said: “The A26-Ost is agreed in the coalition agreement and we will stick to it.” When and where the highway will be built is a matter for the federal government. When the time comes, it must be made as environmentally friendly as possible.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:230425-99-446202/5