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The endless story of Cheerstrasse has another chapter: the construction loan must be significantly increased for the second time. This is demonstrated by an external report that puts the city of Lucerne and the former municipality of Littau in a bad position.
Actually, construction work on the long-awaited ring road in Littauerboden should have started soon. After all, the Littau electorate decided to build it in 2009. At the time it was a loan of almost 14 million francs. After the merger, it became clear that this amount is not enough; In 2017, the voters of the city of Lucerne approved an additional credit of 4.8 million francs. It is now clear that this amount was also set too low. Another additional loan is needed, which should reach the city parliament in 2021. Exactly how high the additional financial requirement is must be determined by the end of 2020.
Littau budgeted unrealistic
The city relies on an external appraisal indicating that the amount budgeted for the construction of Cheerstrasse is insufficient. And this has it all: the then Littau local council presented the electorate with a poorly developed project with unrealistic cost estimates. It should have been clear that the € 14 million for the construction of a ring road was not enough. Subsequently, the city council recognized this deficiency by requesting an additional loan. But even here, the approach was too uncritical, the report complains.
The city council threw ashes on his head in a press release: they were under pressure to implement the popular mandate of 2009 as quickly as possible and to prepare the project for construction. Otherwise, one would have been exposed to criticism that the city does not take the decisions of the former Littau municipality seriously. In addition, the increase in the cost of the project in 2017 gave much to talk about. If the credit had been even higher, it could have failed in the referendum.
But this “consideration” has not yielded any results, as it now does. The project continues to be delayed, costs continue to rise. At least one seems to be on the right track now. The report testifies to the city that current plans for Cheerstrasse are realistic and well-founded, unlike in the past.
Canton wants expensive traffic lights instead of roundabouts
But why is the project getting more and more expensive? One reason is the canton’s requirements, which, for example, stipulate an intersection with traffic lights instead of a roundabout. These requirements make the project significantly more expensive, but according to the expert’s report, they would have been predictable.
What conclusion does the city council draw from this debacle? In the future, greater attention will be paid to planning large projects “technically clean and of an adequate quality standard”, as stated in the city’s announcement. Construction loans must always contain the necessary reserves and be 10 percent cost accurate. They want to offer this quality even when a project is under great political and time pressure, as the council emphasizes.
There will be an update soon.
