Traunstein (dpa / lby) – On Wednesday, the taxpayers’ association again denounced a number of public projects in Bavaria as a waste of taxes. More or less well-known cases from the Free State are represented in the association’s new black book. These include a cycle and footpath in Traunstein, which was built above the federal highway 304 at a cost of almost two million euros.
The criticism is aimed in particular at the fact that ice on the bridge in winter was to be thawed away with underfloor heating costing 150,000 euros. The city of Traunstein, which later had to bear the maintenance, caused electricity costs of 23,000 euros in 2021. Reason enough for Traunstein’s mayor Christian Hümmer (CSU) to leave the heating off in the future. Now the winter service has to take care of the clearance. “If you had thought a little more carefully beforehand, you could have saved yourself the ecological nonsense of a heated footpath and cycle path and thus a lot of money,” says the taxpayers’ association.
The Heilig-Geist-Steg was released in mid-2020 “after some bad luck and mishaps”. Because there were already problems during construction because the bridge components did not fit perfectly – delays were the result. The state building authority in Traunstein, which was responsible for the construction, nevertheless raved about the completion of an “extraordinary bridge structure” that was also “a representative entrance gate” for the Upper Bavarian city. A statement from the planning authority on the expensive winter heating was initially not available on Wednesday.
Other current cases from Bavaria in the Black Book are, for example, a toilet facility in Regensburg costing almost 900,000 euros, a grass track for a tram in Augsburg, the rental costs for the Future Museum in Nuremberg and the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau last summer.
