There is currently no way for motorists to get through – the Laimer tube is closed until March.
© Jens Hartmann
The Laimer underpass is an eternal bottleneck: the tunnel was closed to motorists as early as 2019 and this year too, motorists will have to be patient for a few more weeks.
Munich – pedestrians and cyclists are still allowed through, but drivers are not: The Laimer underpass has been closed for a week now. Construction work is underway on site for the second trunk line as well as on the new environmental composite tube, which, according to Deutsche Bahn, will last until March 28th.
Laimer underpass: the eternal eye of the needle
The underpass is an eternal bottleneck. The tunnel was already closed to cars in 2019. Drivers are annoyed again when they are led across Landsberger Strasse and Friedenheimer Bridge in a traffic jam. Nevertheless: The work is “inevitable”, says 3rd Mayor Verena Dietl (SPD), because there was even a risk of collapse. According to the railway, the structure of the underpass must now be “reinforced with steel straps”. The passage for cars and buses will be possible again from March 29th. According to the Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft, the Laim S-Bahn station is “accessible at any time” via the footpath and bike path through the west side of the underpass.
The situation is precarious for motorists, especially since the Paul Heyse underpass at the main train station is also closed in one direction of travel and it is therefore not possible to cross the tracks in two places.
Construction work on the Laimer tube – situation difficult for residents
But what is the situation of the residents now? According to the mobility department, which refers to information provided by the railway, there are “no restrictions” in the cycle and sidewalk tube. Verena Dietl, on the other hand, says: “The construction work is currently causing problems for all road users. As a laimer, I am affected by it myself. ”
During the visits to date, the mobility department has “not observed any particularly serious congestion”. At the end of 2019, however, there was already a lot of crush between pedestrians and cyclists at the tube.
According to the MVG, the passageways now even have to be “temporarily narrowed”. The railway is in exchange with the city. In the future, there will be “probably no more partition walls between the areas in the protective tunnels,” says a railway spokeswoman. Verena Dietl, meanwhile, demands that the railway “must do everything possible to ensure that the necessary work is carried out as quickly as possible and that one can safely go through the Laimer underpass again. In the long term, we also urgently need the environmentally friendly pipe for a sensible and safe road connection. The construction must be advanced with the highest priority. “
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