Karlsruhe (dpa / lsw) - After several delays, among other things because of falling fan parts, the new Karlsruhe car tunnel is now to be opened in mid-October. The date is expected to be between October 17th and 23rd, Mayor Frank Mentrup (SPD) announced on Thursday. The exact date has to be coordinated with the Karlsruher rail infrastructure company mbH (Kasig) and the state transport ministry.
The tunnel under the Kriegsstraße is part of the combined solution local transport project. Some of the tram traffic will be routed through a tunnel under the pedestrian zone, while some of the trams will run above ground on the new Kriegsstraße route to the south. The car lane, which previously divided the city in two, has been converted into a boulevard. Car traffic is to be routed through the 1360 meter long tube under the Kriegsstrasse.
While the subway has been in operation since December, the opening of the Karoline Luise Tunnel has been postponed several times. Almost a week before the last scheduled date at the end of May, defective fans under the tunnel ceiling stopped the whole thing: parts of the rotors were suddenly thrown out of one during a test run.
The fans have now been provisionally retrofitted with robust grilles, Kasig announced. "A permanent solution will then be worked out in the coming weeks and a corresponding tender for new fans will be launched."
