Heritage Impact Assessment of the planned Railroad-Crossing-Abolishment in Rüdesheim

The UNESCO World Heritage property ‘Upper Middle Rhine Valley’ was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2002. The cultural landscape stretches over 67 kilometers from Rüdesheim and Bingen in the south to Koblenz in the north.

Rüdesheim currently witnesses massive constraints for through-traffic on the Federal Road Bundesstraße 42 due to the existing railroad-crossing. Hence, Hessen Mobil, the Agency for Road and Traffic Management of the Land Hesse, was conmmissioned by Deutsche Bundesbahn in 2013 to compile a feasibility study to bridge or tunnel the existing railroad-crossing. An in-depth investigation lead to four different alternative solutions.

The Heritage Impact Assessment aims to assess potential beneficial or adverse impacts of the planned alternative solutions on the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage property Upper Middle Rhine Valley. In case of potential adverse impacts mitigation measures should be suggested.

Commissioned by:
Hessen Mobil (Agency for Road and Traffic Management of the Land Hessen)

Status / Result:
Completed 2020