On March 12, voters in the canton of Bern will decide on two controversial transport projects worth millions. If they are rejected, this could herald a paradigm shift in Bern’s transport policy.
The opponents brand the two traffic rehabilitations in the Emmental and Oberaargau as “projects from the last century”. Traffic infrastructure is being prepared with a big trowel and built in the green meadow.
farmers against it
But: “Whoever sows roads will reap even more traffic,” warn opponents. In addition, the canton of Bern can no longer afford such “mega-projects”. The opponents include not only left-wing green parties and environmental groups, but also farmers who are fighting against the loss of cultivated land. They all favor so-called zero-plus solutions in Oberaargau and Emmental. So, an improvement of the existing situation with smaller, individual measures.
Large bypass solutions are currently not easy in the canton of Bern. In 2018, thousands took to the streets in Biel against the western branch of the motorway bypass. In 2020, the canton had to give in and finally buried the project in the planned form.
Whether the two existing traffic redevelopments will also be sent downstream is an open question. There are supporters and opponents in almost all parties and interest groups.
Canton Bern
Undoubted traffic problems
The traffic problems in the Aarwangen and Burgdorf areas have been known for decades. Nobody seriously denies that solutions are needed. In the Oberaargau, all traffic between the Niederbipp motorway junction and the greater Langenthal area now runs through the narrow town center of Aarwangen. A regional train and motorized traffic share the street space there.
Now a 3.6 kilometer bypass road is to be built, which, however, takes up cultivated land and interferes with the habitat of endangered plants and animals. Compensatory measures are planned. The construction loan to be approved for the Aarwangen traffic rehabilitation amounts to CHF 97.8 million.
240 million for a tunnel
In the Burgdorf, Oberburg and Hasle area, a total of 19 measures are planned to relieve the towns of traffic. The bypasses for Oberburg and Hasle are central. Traffic lights and two new railway underpasses in Burgdorf are also planned to make traffic flow smoother.
This project also takes up cultivated land and encroaches on the groundwater. Therefore, special precautions are necessary. The construction loan to be approved for the project amounts to CHF 313.9 million. A tunnel just over a kilometer long between Oberburg and Hasle alone costs 240 million.
To finance the two projects in the Emmental and Oberaargau, the canton can draw on the remainder of a fund that it intends to liquidate. The rest will be settled through the ordinary budget. The federal government and the municipalities also pay.
Graphic designers
supported by the population
The proponents see the project as the long-awaited relief for the noise and emissions plagued population. The population is behind the plans of the canton, it says on the pro side. The planned unbundling and liquefaction of traffic will not only benefit motorized private transport, but also pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. Ultimately, the entire canton benefits from the “environmentally friendly solution”.
The advocates include representatives of SMEs, business, SVP, FDP, Mitte and EDU, as well as numerous communities in the affected regions. The SP and the Greens refuse, the EPP has decided to allow voting and the GLP has given out the majority of the no slogan.
The Bernese Great Council approved the loans last June. During the debate, the Greens announced a referendum, which subsequently took place.
