BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The FDP sees an urgent need for modernization of rails and roads in Germany. “We not only have to quickly upgrade and expand our rail infrastructure, but also our road infrastructure,” said FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai on Monday in Berlin after a Liberal presidium meeting. The aim is to at least halve the duration of planning and approval procedures for all modes of transport.
Looking at the current discussions inside and outside the coalition, Djir-Sarai called it “at least strange that some people are distinguishing between good infrastructure and bad infrastructure”. It’s all about the infrastructure. “You can clearly see that there is upward potential, that something has to be done here, and above all it has to be done quickly.” From his point of view, this FDP position is “completely in line with the coalition agreement,” emphasized the FDP politician.
In order to speed up the process, the FDP is calling, among other things, for the list of projects for which the Federal Administrative Court is responsible in the first instance to be supplemented with the areas of roads and waterways. Replacement new motorway bridges should be able to be realized without approval and environmental impact assessment. The construction of cycle paths on federal trunk roads should also be made possible without an environmental impact assessment. The FDP wants to see planning approval procedures more digitized./sk/DP/stk