On 30 June 2016, the Chairman of the Board of the Brandenburg State Roads Authority, Dr Albrecht Klein, the Head of the Road Construction Division at the Federal Ministry of Transport, and Brandenburg’s Minister for Infrastructure, Kathrin Schneider, officially opened the new B1 to traffic. The road had already been open since the start of the week and was briefly closed for the official ceremony. Many local residents, representatives of local organisations and politicians had come to celebrate the completion of this mammoth project, which ultimately cost over 18 million euros. “On the first night, the whole family was awake because it was so unusually quiet,” said Herzfelde’s local council chairwoman, Gesa Soballa, who lives right next to the former through-road. Residents and business owners will have to get used to the changes to local traffic; not everyone is happy with the new traffic routing – but the positive mood among those present, looking forward to a quieter and cleaner village, prevailed.
Photo, from left to right: Dr Albrecht Klein (Brandenburg State Roads Authority), Rainer Schinkel (MOL district), Georg von der Marwitz (Bundestag), Frank Süßer (Federal Ministry of Transport), Kathrin Schneider (Brandenburg’s Minister for Infrastructure), Robert Knobloch (Rüdersdorf Local Authority)