© Domingos Oliveira / RTL
Since July, French border residents have been travelling on two narrowed lanes and have been watching the progress of the "Neie Wal" structure at the border.
Since April, the speed limit has been 70 km/h on the four kilometres of the A3 under construction between the Croix de Gasperich and the Livange interchange. This is the first section of the vast project to widen the country's busiest motorway to 2x3 lanes.
This has also been the case since July at the border crossing between France and Luxembourg, where the two traffic lanes have been narrowed over several hundred metres. This will last for quite some time still, as the foreseeable end of the work that has just started is set for early 2024, explains the Roads and Bridges Administration.
The reason for this is the construction of the "Neie Wal" wildlife crossing. The structure is an integral part of the project to expand the A3 to 2x3 lanes. It was not part of one of the five packages presented in April 2017 by François Bausch, Minister for Sustainable Development, because it is considered a compensatory measure.
© (Photo: MMTP/Ponts et chaussées)
The wildlife crossing will be in the form of a half-shell. The height at the highest point on the motorway axis will be 8.60 metres, with a length of 67 metres and a width of 40 metres. It will be a kind of green gateway to Luxembourg, and will cost 6.8 million euros.
The earthworks have been completed and the first phases of concreting the foundations will be carried out shortly, the Ponts et Chaussées reports. The workers have been preparing the formwork for several days.
The narrowing of the two traffic lanes will remain in place until the wildlife crossing is completed.
But will the A3 already be upgraded to 2x3 lanes under the structure? The answer is yes - but not quite yet. After the completion of the wildlife bridge, the A3 will still be expanded to 2x2 lanes. The widening to 2x3 lanes under the already built structure is planned in a later package of the A3 project.
This means that border residents will experience a further narrowing of the lanes at the border later on.
