It all started with the Rahmede viaduct near Lüdenscheid.

Ever since the bad news about the dilapidated bridge and its immediate closure has been on the Federal Transport Minister's table, Volker Wissing (FDP) has been on the alert.

Because: Maybe Lüdenscheid is everywhere.

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Anna Schiller

volunteer.

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He therefore had a "bridge balance sheet" drawn up, which checked all 40,000 bridges in Germany for their load-bearing capacity. The result was "not rosy", as Wissing put it cautiously.

You could also call it a gigantic modernization backlog: 4,000 bridges will have to be renovated or renewed over the next eight years, primarily in the west of the country.

That's 2700 more than previously planned, they were added almost overnight.

On Thursday, Wissing therefore invited to the "bridge summit" in Berlin.

Not only politicians, top officials and the construction industry came together, he also invited nature conservation associations.

After all, they can prevent even the most careful planning with their lawsuits.

However, for the mammoth bridge renovation project, unity is required – and lots of money.

2.5 billion for Germany's bridges

Funding for this task has been significantly increased: from 2026 onwards there will be one billion euros more each year than previously planned.

That makes 2.5 billion euros a year to prevent the German bridges from continuing to rot and possibly having to be suddenly closed.

What happens in such a case can currently be viewed in Lüdenscheid.

The name of the mountain town in Sauerland hangs like the sword of Damocles over the new transport minister, who has also become the master of 40,000 bridges as a result of the restructuring of the motorway organization.

After the bridge was closed in Lüdenscheid, nothing is like it used to be.

Not even in Taner Sürmeli's kebab shop.

There is now a continuous hissing noise.

This isn't a storm sweeping his street.

For more than three months, cars and trucks have been squeezing past his shop day after day.

In 2019 he and his wife Hasret opened the "Maths Döner House" in Lüdenscheid, now they fear for their existence.

Region threatened by traffic collapse

The bridge collapse on Germany's autobahns ruined the plans they had for their business.

The Rahmede viaduct near Lüdenscheid has been closed since the beginning of December.

The A45 motorway can therefore no longer be used between the Lüdenscheid and Lüdenscheid-Nord junctions.

Since then, the so-called Sauerland line has been diverted through the middle of the city, directly past Sürmeli's kebab shop on Lennestraße.

The bridge is to be blown up later this year to make room for a new building.

But it will probably be years before it is built.

"Right now I can see 15 trucks outside again," reports Sürmeli on the phone on Thursday morning.

Once again, the diverted traffic is backing up in front of his shop.

As early as February, Sürmeli was certain that difficult times were ahead for his business.

Since then, he observes, there have been more vehicles thundering past his shop every day.

Viaduct Rahmede as a deterrent

The permanent traffic jam has economic consequences for the companies along the diversion route: "We are making many, many losses," says Sürmeli.

Some days his employees have to stop delivering because they can't even get out of the driveway, which is blocked by trucks.

The new transport minister, Wissing, may not have the fate of the doner kebab seller in mind, but he is well aware of the full extent of the failure and its consequences for citizens.

In any case, the viaduct on Thursday serves as a deterrent again and again.

Such a demolition would lead to "gigantic economic damage," said Wissing.

Something like this shouldn't be allowed to happen again.

That's why he put together a "package for the future" with nine measures.

There's no point in always looking back.

Less bureaucracy and more digitization

This includes: The pace of bridge renovation must now double – from 200 to 400 bridges a year.

The central "motorway corridors" would be served with priority.

Wherever there are a particularly large number of cars, action must be taken quickly.

Less bureaucracy and more digitization should ensure that planning progresses faster than before.

Accelerating planning is in any case an overriding goal of the new traffic light government: after all, they not only want to build bridges faster, but also wind turbines.

Also important, and this is where the environmental organizations come into play: early cooperation with all those involved should ensure that no objections are raised later, which would only unnecessarily prolong the process.

At least during the bridge summit there was harmony, Wissing enthused on Thursday.

Nevertheless, the results will probably have little impact on the future of the people in Lüdenscheid.

Shopkeeper Sürmeli already knows from an entrepreneur based along the detour that he has decided to sell - although he is likely to get far less for his property than it was worth before the bridge was closed.

"We'll keep going," says Sürmeli.

He hopes that they will finally agree on offers of help for companies and residents in Berlin and Düsseldorf.

So far, he has not received any information from any of the agencies involved as to whether there will be financial support for those affected like him.

Sürmeli is therefore wondering how much longer he can keep his kebab shop going.