Getting ahead is important.
This applies to the traffic jam-plagued motorists on the A 643, who have had great difficulty crossing the Rhine between Mainz and Wiesbaden reasonably punctually and reliably for years.
The inglorious highlight of the never-ending history of expansion was the month-long complete closure of the Schiersteiner Bridge, which was temporarily unusable after a "nightcap" caused by construction work on February 10, 2015.
However, the planners should also make progress, who according to the will of the Federal Ministry of Transport have to implement the large A-643 solution, i.e. the six-lane expansion plus two hard shoulders, suitable noise protection measures for residents and a wild animal green bridge.
The costs: nerves and money
15 years ago, the cost of the large-scale project, which runs straight through the "Mainzer Sand" nature reserve, was estimated at more than 200 million euros.
This amount will no longer suffice.
But no matter what the federal transport ministers were called in the past: To this day, no one in Berlin has really been able to get enthusiastic about the four-plus-two model preferred by the SPD and Greens in Mainz – and for a long time also in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Apparently, even nature conservation and environmental protection initiatives would be willing to support a widening of the four-kilometer stretch of motorway if it were to remain a small solution with comparatively little land use.
After all, the past weekends at many train stations have shown more than clearly that Deutsche Bahn is not yet able to fulfill its task as the national transport locomotive to 100 percent, at least not yet.
With a view to the further ring expansion, one should assume that the project, which has been discussed for two decades, will probably have to be discussed at length and at length in court.
It is more than a pity that those in charge of the SPD, Greens and FDP, who are traffic light partners in the city and state, were unable to agree on a mutual approach with the liberal Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who comes from Rhineland-Palatinate.
And it's a missed opportunity that will only cost more time and money - and will annoy drivers when they are on the A 643.