display
Hanover (dpa / lni) - The approximately 1500 kilometers of motorway in Lower Saxony have been under new responsibility since the beginning of the year: On January 1, responsibility for the motorway network was transferred from the federal states to the new federal motorway GmbH.
Three branches in Lower Saxony take care of it.
At the turn of the year, many employees switched from the previously responsible road construction companies in the federal states to the new Autobahn GmbH - in Lower Saxony that is up to 1200 employees, said the manager of the Northwest branch in Hanover, Cord Lüesse.
The new Autobahn GmbH is responsible for the spreading and maintenance of the highways as well as for the planning of new routes such as the north bypass A33 around Osnabrück.
The GmbH is also responsible for around 1,800 bridges and three motorway tunnels in Lower Saxony, for the Emstunnel A31 near Leer, the Dissen tunnel A33 and the Heidkopftunnel A38.
display
With the new motorway company, Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) wants to build more quickly and thus have fewer traffic jams on the roads.
However, the major reform carried out in just two years is overshadowed by increased costs.
It should take another two months just to integrate the necessary IT systems.
By the end of 2021, 13,000 people are expected to work for the new company, up to now 15,000 people have been involved in looking after the motorways.
By far the largest part of Lower Saxony is looked after by the newly created Northwest branch based in Hanover.
This is also responsible for large parts of Hesse, said branch manager Lüesse.
display
A small part in the northeast with the locations in Stade and Lüneburg is looked after by the North branch in Hamburg.
Large parts of western Lower Saxony as far as Cloppenburg are assigned to the Westphalia branch based in Hamm.
However, there are still regional contacts in the branch offices, for example in Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Verden or Bad Gandersheim, explained Lüesse.
The ADAC in Lower Saxony sees no problems for drivers, but actually the chance that many things will get better, says spokeswoman Alexandra Kruse.
"Everything should be coordinated a little better, including in construction site management."
The car club therefore sees the new operating company as basically good.
"It should be that the Autobahn GmbH is a good service provider and sees the driver as a customer."
Autobahn GmbH