Many state construction projects are dragging on because of lengthy procedures. In spite of this, another major works site has opened in the north last week.
The construction works in question are the expansion of the B7 to four lanes between Schieren and Ettelbruck, along with the construction of a new viaduct, a project approved by the Chamber five years ago.
The major road scheme, scheduled to take at least four years, is being broken down into plots that are being put out to tender individually, each worth €10 million.
The bypass was originally inaugurated back in 1993, and the expansion has been long awaited ever since, since the kilometres-long tailbacks at the end of the A7 heading north, and the congestion at the Ettelbruck exit, cost thousands of drivers time and patience every day.
At least another year will pass before the second phase of the expansion, widening the road from three to four lanes, can get going.
Before then, a report from the Environment Ministry on the creation of habitats for birds and lizards, as ecological compensation measures, must be signed off, with the lizards already having been relocated.
In addition, a wooded area on the hill to get to Nommern must be cleared to allow the National Institute for Archaeological Research (INRA) to carry out preventive archaeological excavations, meaning that construction work at that location will not begin before October of next year at the earliest.
Public Works Minister Yuriko Backes sets out these details in response to a parliamentary question from Jean-Paul Schaaf, a Christian Social People's Party (CSV) MP for the North constituency.
