Offsetting 'Nordstrooss' environmental impact

(CS/DS) While the “Nordstrooss” motorway is set to finally open in September there are still issues with environmental measures aimed at offsetting some of the impact the new road and its construction have had on the surrounding nature.

Some 150 hectares of land are needed for reforestation and to create protected zones in an effort to offset the environmental impact of the A7 motorway. However, only around 90 hectares suitable to carry out these measures are currently available to the state. 

This despite the fact that the measures should have been completed ten years after parliament passed the bill approving the road. The “Nordstrooss” has, however, been under construction for 18 years.

At fault, according to Infrastructure Minister François Bausch and Environment State Secretary Camille Gira, is an interministerial committee put in charge of managing the project. The group, including members of the Environment, Agriculture and Finance Ministries, as well as the departments for regional planning and public works, met only sporadically, they said.

An inventory has now been carried out and the search for suitable land to purchase has been launched.

With not enough territory available in the immediate vicinity of the motorway, the perimeter has been expanded.

Bausch said that there are enough funds available to move the project forward swiftly and showed himself confident that the purchases would be completed by autumn.