Decades in the Making

A 3.3-kilometre cycle path in eastern Luxembourg was formally opened on Friday, decades after plans for the wider route were first drawn up.[1]

The new section connects Medernach and Ermsdorf and forms part of a planned 33-kilometre cycling route between Junglinster and Reisdorf. With this section complete, almost 13 kilometres of the route have now been finished, including the stretch from Koedange to Ermsdorf.[1]

The numbers tell the story. A route first planned in the 1990s. Thirty-plus years later, 13 of 33 kilometres are done. That is roughly 40% completion over three decades. At this pace, the remaining 20 kilometres would take another 45 years. Roland Fox, director of the National Roads Administration, expressed confidence it would not take another 30 years. He did not say it would take less.[1]

Mobility and Public Works Minister Yuriko Backes said the government aims to add 20 kilometres of cycle paths each year, provided projects progress as planned. That phrase, "provided projects progress as planned," is doing a lot of work in that sentence. In Luxembourg, as in much of Europe, infrastructure projects progress as planned until they do not. Planning permissions, land acquisition, environmental assessments, budget revisions: each step is a chance for delay.[1]

The path itself was actually completed in October last year. The inauguration on Friday was ceremonial. Officials marked the occasion by getting on their bicycles and testing the route themselves, which is a nice touch. It is easier to celebrate a finished path than to explain why the next one is taking so long.

Luxembourg's national cycle network is ambitious in scope and slow in execution. The country wants 20 kilometres of new paths per year. It is getting them in fits and starts, with decades-long gaps between conception and completion. The Medernach-Ermsdorf section is a good path. It will be used and appreciated. It also took thirty years to build 3.3 kilometres. The math is not encouraging.