And life blooms on the lid

Almost three years after the construction of a noise protection tunnel on the A7 in Hamburg-Schnelsen, a park has been opened on the tunnel roof. The three-hectare facility was inaugurated on Sunday with a greeting from Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) at a district festival. "With the cover park, what has been separated for decades is growing together," said Tschentscher, according to the announcement. "Schnelsen will have a central park that brings neighborhoods together and enriches the district with nature and new leisure opportunities." The A7 cover is a model for modern urban development and a great asset for the west of Hamburg.

According to the Eimsbüttel district office, the “cover park” includes a neighborhood square, a large meadow, an allotment garden with 42 plots and an esplanade. 35,000 tons of subsoil and 9,500 tons of topsoil were applied to the concrete roof of the motorway tunnel. Landscape gardeners planted 150 trees and shrubs as well as 150,000 flowers and perennials.

Since June 2016, traffic on the motorway, which has been expanded to six lanes, has been flowing under the 550 meter long cover. The building was completely completed at the end of 2019. Then the construction of the 4.5 million euro park began.

Similar green areas are to be created on the Stellingen and Altona noise protection tunnels further south. The almost one kilometer long tunnel in Stellingen has already been built, the two kilometer cover in Altona is under construction. In 2028, the motorway expansion on the Hamburg section of the A7 north of the Elbe tunnel should be completed.

Although the tunnel roofs themselves cannot be built on, the covering of the motorway should enable the construction of 3000 apartments on noise-reduced areas. The overall project is also referred to as "city repair". For more than 40 years, the A7 separated the districts in the west of Hamburg. Now they are reconnected through the green areas with numerous paths.

Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks (Greens) was definitely impressed: "Today we can see in Schnelsen that our motorway covers also bring a significant increase in quality of life through green areas or play opportunities. The lids in our city are a success story that we will continue to write in Altona.”