500 million package – Fernpass: Government accelerates, opposition rages

For the Party for Freedom, the planned new construction of a second tunnel tube for the Lermoos tunnel, the new construction of the Fernpass tunnel and the introduction of tolls for the use of the Fernpassweg are “half-baked measures” that would lead to “half-baked measures”. neither ecologically nor economically” and do not contribute to easing traffic. “A real solution via a large tunnel has probably died,” state party chairman Markus Abwerzger said angrily.

“Cash cow of the state government”
The Reutten district party chairman Vinzenz Schedle sees the district as disadvantaged: “The separation of Innsbruck and the robber barons at the Fernpass are a slap in the face to everyone in Ausserfern. They can also save their ridiculous alms for the ‘starvation district’. It would have been fairer to simply hand us over to Bayern.”

In this way, the Ausserfern region will only become a “cash cow for the state government”: “You are essentially sacrificing an entire district to fatten the state budget,” they both agreed.

List Fritz calls for a referendum in Ausserfern
List Fritz party leader and traffic spokeswoman Andrea Haselwanter-Schneider praised the government for “walking the talk” – but she still saw “a lot of question marks”. District spokesman Josef Lutz asked about the traffic studies into the Fernpass tunnel – all of which ‘disappeared into the drawer’. For him, too, there is “a great risk that the construction of this tunnel will also lead to the 7.5 ton limit for trucks being imposed.” The toll would also “only cause more traffic jams” at the toll booths: greetings in Schönberg!”

Haselwanter-Schneider criticized that “little to nothing” had been said about the expansion of public transportation. “Although the responsible regional transport councilor René Zumtobel (SPÖ) promised to expand rail transport by 2040,” this was “no more than lip service.” The population in the Reutte district must be involved in the decision, both called for a referendum on the approximately 500th anniversary of the Million Package.

Green rage over „Traffic jam hush money“
The Greens’ package was once again criticized by the opposition. “There will be more traffic jams, tunnels and tolls at the Fernpass and the residents of Ausserfern will be fobbed off with 150 euros in hush money,” said state spokesperson and Green Party club president Gebi Mair.

The Greens would say “no” “to this toll and to the new transit route” as long as there is no rail tunnel. The region’s population would have to put up with “more and more traffic jams, noise and filth and then pay for it,” Mair said, taking the state government to court. District spokeswoman Margit Dablander described the mood in the district as “angry,” especially because the population did not want a long-distance pass tunnel, she said, and referred to a mobility study.

The state government is stepping on the gas
Meanwhile, Governor Mattle was full of energy on Thursday: “The people of Ausserfern rightly expect that we will move from talk to action and that something will finally happen at the Fernpass. That is why today I have already instructed the responsible departments and members of the government to implement the Fernpass package consistently.”

In addition, the planning services for the Lermoos Tunnel have already been tendered throughout the EU. The documents for the Fernpass tunnel construction project will be submitted in the coming days to obtain road construction approval, road construction official LHStv said. Josef Geisler (ÖVP). This marks the start of the official procedures. An EIA procedure is not necessary for both tunnel projects.

Legal basis in the March state parliament?
At the beginning of January, the state government submitted for assessment the amendment to the Tyrolean Road Act to transpose the requirements of the EU Infrastructure Costs Directive into national law. The legal basis for establishing a toll and maintenance company in Ausserfern was also submitted for assessment on Thursday. However, tolls will not be collected until the Fernpass tunnel comes into use in 2028.

Both pieces of legislation will be put to a vote in the Tyrolean state parliament in March, the politicians announced, with Geisler pointing out again that the EU infrastructure costs directive would ban general toll exceptions. “Tyrol will therefore be actively involved in the revision of the EU infrastructure cost directive in 2026,” he announced.