Mayor's outlook in the City Council: Infrastructure and school building construction remain investment priorities in 2014

Dresdner Platz bridge open to traffic - Zschopauer Straße with new construction section

One of the most challenging and complicated construction projects in the city of Chemnitz, the replacement construction of the Dresdner Platz bridge / reconstruction of Dresdner Platz, was opened to traffic on Friday: with the opening of Waisenstraße and Dresdner Straße, traffic on the B169 and B173 trunk roads can once again flow unhindered and now on four widened lanes. Remaining work on the outside facilities will be completed by the spring. The city of Chemnitz and the Free State of Saxony have invested almost 25 million euros in this important infrastructure project.

Traffic has been flowing on the completed landward carriageway of federal road 174 between Südring and Georgistraße since the end of October. This section was the most extensive and, in the area of the terraced houses, also the most complex section due to the media located here. The expansion of the city-bound carriageway in this section (Georgistraße to Südring) is currently underway. This new construction phase also includes the expansion of Georgistraße to Kleinolbersdorfer Straße as well as further expansion work in the area of the building at Zschopauer Straße 298. The work, which will cost around 20 million euros, is now scheduled for completion in spring 2015 after the exceptionally long winter and heavy rainfall in June caused delays.

School building construction programme remains a priority - refurbishment of Rabenstein primary school

In 2013, extensive work began on 18 of the 21 schools included in the school building construction funding programme for the rapid implementation of the 2013/14 school building construction programme of the City of Chemnitz. The city's building management and construction department awarded contracts to over 60 engineering and planning offices for this programme. In addition, a total of 177 contract award procedures for construction services have been carried out to date. This means that two thirds of the construction work has already been awarded to companies; the remaining contracts will be awarded between the beginning and middle of 2014.

The refurbishment of Rabenstein primary school will begin in spring 2014. The programme includes the general refurbishment of the school building and sports hall, including outdoor facilities. A good 4.63 million euros will be invested. The other two projects will also be able to start in the spring: Planning permission for the Josephinen secondary school was granted at the beginning of December. The project includes fire protection measures and the construction of a second structural escape route. A decision on the renovation of Untere Luisen-Oberschule is expected to be made by the state directorate in January, meaning that the city's goal of realising the construction project by the end of 2014 will not be jeopardised. Investments are being made here in fire protection measures and the construction of a second structural escape route. The school building construction programme in the city of Chemnitz has a total volume of 40 million euros.

Over the next few days, the administration will be submitting a total of eight draft plans for construction measures planned for 2015 to 2016 to the Sächsische Aufbaubank for funding applications. This is based on the City Council's decision in principle in October, which allows the school building construction programme to be continued in 2015/16 with an investment framework of 37 million euros. The administration was commissioned to prepare and plan the measures - including the refurbishment of Borna primary school, the extension of Josephinen secondary school on Agnesstraße, the partial refurbishment of the BSZ für Technik III - Richard-Hartmann-Schule and the Ernst Busch speech therapy school.

In contrast, the city's largest building construction project at present, the new construction of the school for the physically disabled, was delayed due to foundation work at the beginning of the year. According to current plans, completion is therefore expected in February 2015. Around 32.7 million euros are being invested in the new building.

Stadium: application for planning permission is submitted

The design and approval planning for the 25 million euro remodelling of the stadium on Gellertstraße has largely been completed. The application for planning permission will be submitted this week. In preparation for the demolition of the Gokartthalle, work has already begun on separating the media and gutting the building. The actual demolition will then follow immediately. The general contractor, ARGE Bam Sports/Bam Deutschland, has set the end of January 2014 as the start of construction on the stadium site.