On the A1 motorway from Berlin to Hamburg, the long queue of vehicles stretches endlessly. This is not only a concern for daily commuters, but also an increasingly serious blood clot in Germany, the engine of the European economy.

In December 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Transport officially approved a total of 3 billion euros in special funding for the construction and maintenance of federal highways, marking the country's official launch of large-scale repairs to long-standing and serious infrastructure problems.

Expanding from Binhai Highway to Aged Road

This funding will have a clear construction flow. One of the key projects is the A20 coastal road in Lower Saxony. The first 13 kilometer section of the coastal artery connecting Westerstedt and Derochzen, with a total length of 114 kilometers, is expected to start construction and cost 340 million euros. This move aims to improve the transportation network along the northern coast of Germany.

The funds will also be used to address historical congestion points. For example, the A57 highway widening project in Krefeld, North Rhine Westphalia was previously delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. With the arrival of new funds, the road section will be widened to six lanes in both directions as originally planned to enhance the traffic capacity of this important corridor. In addition, the construction projects of A14 and B188 national highways in Saxony Anhalt have also received funding.

Accumulated maintenance and huge funding gap

This 3 billion euro investment is actually an emergency remedy for Germany's infrastructure debt. German Transport Minister Volker Wiesing has stated that there is a huge additional demand for roads and railways in the country.

Taking bridges as an example, there are about 40000 bridges in the German federal highway network, many of which were built in the 1960s and 1970s and are no longer designed to withstand today's surging traffic loads, especially heavy trucks. According to the assessment, there are 4000 bridges in urgent need of repair in the core network of highways alone. The closure of the Ram Valley Bridge in L ü denshaid due to severe damage is a microcosm of the severity of the problem.

Congestion is another persistent problem. For example, the A1 highway on the Cologne to Dortmund section recorded nearly 6500 hours of congestion in 2023. Overall, the risk of traffic paralysis is increasing.

Faced with huge demand, 3 billion euros may just be a drop in the bucket. Minister Vesin pointed out that between 2025 and 2029, the additional funding requirement for federal highways alone will reach 25 billion euros. To this end, the German ruling coalition is planning an unprecedented 500 billion euro infrastructure special fund, which is planned to be used for the renovation and modernization of various fields such as transportation infrastructure within ten years. Keywords: international news and information, transportation news, international news website

The German government's funding this time can be seen as the first horn of its grand infrastructure renewal plan. From the construction of specific road sections to the planning of national special funds, it indicates that decision-makers have recognized that a modern transportation network is not only a convenient channel for travel, but also the key to the smooth operation of the economic bloodline.Editor/Cheng Liting