Urban tunnels are expensive, complex, extremely political and yet so, so important. In the April issue of G+L – and thus in the first City Special 2024 – we present the most exciting urban tunnel projects currently underway both nationally and internationally and discuss why these major projects in particular are in danger of being ruined by politics and bureaucracy – as recently happened in Munich.
Cover image and graphics: Laura Celine Heinemann
Reunification of the English Garden
In 2010, Grub+Lejeune presented their idea for the reunification of the English Garden for the first time. The vision of the Munich architect couple was to use a 400-metre-long car tunnel to turn the garden monument, which had been cut in two by the Bundesstraße 2 R – known as the Mittlerer Ring – since the 1960s, back into a park above ground.
The project met with great approval. The Munich City Council unanimously approved it on June 28, 2017. Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) spoke out in favor of rapid implementation, the Free State of Bavaria pledged 35 million euros and the federal government provided 2.67 million euros. The estimated project volume was 125 million, later 200 million. Grub+Lejeune handed over the project to the Munich Building Department. And the red-green majority in the town hall scrapped it in March 2021.
368 trees have to make way
The reason: 890 trees. That is the number of trees that would have to be felled for the tunnel construction, according to the building department. The price for the underpass was therefore too high, according to the Munich city government. There was no social or media outcry about this decision. When it comes to trees, resistance is difficult.
The explosive thing is that Grub+Lejeune were unable to find the 890 trees in their tree survey, which they then drew up with the support of the Bavarian Palace and Lake Administration. According to their study, 368 trees would have to be removed. The building department refused to answer any further questions or talk to the architects. The reasons for the decision were never fully clarified. This deeply disappointed Grub+Lejeune. The tunnel had been planned to death, said Hermann Grub in an interview. If you absolutely wanted to overturn a project, then it would be over the trees.
A strong accusation. And a sad irony. 890 or 368 trees vs. 375 hectares of continuous English Garden. A price of democracy? Certainly. At the same time, the project case in Munich is exemplary for the complex balancing of interests, bureaucratic requirements and technical demands of urban tunnel projects. And this is precisely what this issue of G+L is about.
So get ready for an issue full of opposing positions, supposed contradictions and complex issues. An issue between political overconfidence, administrative hyper-caution and financial overload. But also a G+L that shows once again: Technical expertise is one thing, political will is another.
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