Complaint temporarily halts Fernpass tunnel plans

Plans for the Fernpass summit tunnel in Tyrol have been temporarily put on hold after an environmental organisation filed a complaint with the Tyrol Administrative Court, ORF reported. The tender for clearing forest areas has been withdrawn, putting the planned start of construction preparations in October in doubt.

The court delivered the 50-page complaint to Fernpassstraße GmbH, the company responsible for the project, on Monday. The company had originally planned to begin clearing work for the tunnel in October.

The complaint challenges the tunnel’s nature conservation approval. It was filed by Verkehrswende.at, an environmental initiative from Lower Austria. The organisation said it was acting entirely on behalf of the Gurgltal citizens’ initiative, which also organised protest marches on the B179 road against the Fernpass package over the summer.

“We are firmly convinced that we submitted a comprehensive project that is environmentally compatible. It was also approved by the authorities,” said Klaus Gspan, managing director of Fernpassstraße GmbH. “Now the entire matter is before the Tyrol Administrative Court.”

The complaint contains numerous objections, said Jochen Strauß, a resident of Tarrenz and member of the Gurgltal citizens’ initiative. “Some of them naturally concern nature. Animal and plant species are at risk. But our main concern is people, because their health is also at risk,” he said.

The court’s decision could take several months. A four-week appeal period begins on Tuesday, and new expert assessments may be required.