A100 via Alt-Treptow—the extension of Berlin's city highway
The Bundesautobahn A100 is Berlin´s inner-city north-south connection, which in parts follows the inner Berlin S-Bahn ring. The "A100" is regularly listed in the surveys of the Federal Highway Research Institute as one of the busiest roads in Germany. Every day, about 170,000 vehicles use at least some of the sections of Berlin's "Stadtautobahn". Given its significance, the A100 is currently being developed further to provide additional short-cuts through Berlin and absorb some of the inner-city road traffic. The extension in development will also serve as the inner-city gate from and to the Berlin International Airport.
Image: BATO Group. Construction site of the 16 section (16.BA) of the city highway A100 in Treptow, behing the building complex Schuckert Höfe.
The A100 today and in future
The A100 runs from the north of Berlin, starting as an extention of the Seestraße in Wedding, from there continuing in curve that follows the Berlin S-Bahn ring (S42) via Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (Kurfürstendamm and Hohenzollerndamm junctions) over Tempelhof, flowing into the Buschkrugallee/Grenzalle junctions in the southeastern Berlin-Neukölln.
The city highway is currently being extended by the 16th construction section (16. BA, Bauabschnitt), running from Berlin-Neukölln to the district of Treptow and connecting the A100 to the eastern part of Berlin.
Furthermore, the initial plan foresees a further extension of the city highway northwards (17th construction section) up to Berlin-Friedrichshain, with intermediate stops at Elsenbrücke and Ostbahnhof. This plan is currently on hold due to the objections of Berlin´s red-red-green coalition.
A100 via Treptow – the 16th Section in detail
The aim of the 16th construction phase of the A100 is to connect the eastern districts to the network of federal highways. At the same time, the traffic from the inner-city roads should be redirected to the outer road.
The new section – with three lanes in each direction – will connect the Neukölln motorway junction with the junction Am Treptower Park.
The connection to the surrounding main roads will be provided by a total of three junctions: Neukölln/Grenzallee (only in the direction of A113), Sonnenallee and Am Treptower Park.
In the course of the construction measures, the section of the road Am Treptower Park between Elsenstrasse and Bouchéstrasse will become a two-way road in the future. The remaining section of the road, east from Elsenstraße will remain a one-way street.
To address the traffic noise concerns in the surrounding residential area, mainly on the west side (Beermannstraße, Kiefholzstraße), noise immission conditions were put in place and higher and extended noise barriers will be built as per an amendment decision of March 2018.
With the planned extension, the A100 will grow by a total of 3.2 kilometres, of which approx. 400 metres would run underground in a tunnel (Grenzallee). The project is budgeted with an investment of 613 million euros and is planned with a construction period of eleven years (2013 to 2024).
A100 – the advantages of the extended city highway and the outlook
All in all, the 16th construction section of the A100 motorway is set to provide noticeable relief for traffic on the currently used main roads after the project completion. Moreover, faster links to different destinations would have a positive effect on the attractiveness of certain urban areas in the outskirts.
Additionally, the new section of the A100 will become the gateway to the new Berlin International Airport (BER) for inner-city economic areas such as the Mediaspree area. The technology location Adlershof will also be better "connected" to the eastern urban areas through the expansion of the city freeway.
After the completion of the 16th construction phase, scheduled for 2023/24, the next urban highway project could already be in the starting blocks with the next, 17th phase. This construction section is part of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030.
However, there is no planning approval for the possible next phase yet. The Berlin Senate of SPD, the Left and Greens vehemently reject the federal project.
As of January 1, 2021, the responsibility for this project will be transferred from the Senate Administration for the Environment, Traffic and Climate Protection to the Autobahn GmbH of the federal government, which will decide on further planning and action.
If further development is delayed, and if the city highway was to end at the Am Treptower Park junction after the 16th construction phase has been in operation for years, this would have serious consequences for the traffic flows.
According to the Senate, the load on the Elsenbrücke would increase from just under 50,000 to around 75,000 vehicles a day, especially at the intersection of Elsenstraße and Am Treptower Park, which is also set to become a much busier road.
There are no plans beyond the 17th extension as of today, e. g. to completely close the freeway ring road.
Sources & References: rp-online.de|wikipedia.org | berlin.de | gruene.berlin | xhain.info | berliner-zeitung.de