Saxony is stepping up the pace of road construction

Saxony wants to speed up road construction with less bureaucracy. This is provided for in a draft law passed by the cabinet. Specifically, planning approval procedures for the renovation of state and district roads and the replacement of dilapidated bridges are to be eliminated. A first reading of the bill in the state parliament is planned for early 2026, with the new regulations coming into force in May.

Law aims to reduce bureaucracy

"We want to do our bit to ensure that roads and bridges in the state can be renovated quickly and without time-consuming planning approval procedures. This law significantly reduces unnecessary bureaucracy," said Infrastructure Minister Regina Kraushaar (CDU) after the cabinet meeting. However, planning approval and an environmental impact assessment will still be required where roads are newly built or significantly extended.

According to the minister, the construction of cycle paths on state roads will also be simplified. "Our draft bill is not a magic wand that will solve all infrastructure problems, but the amendment would be an important tool that would make us noticeably faster in the existing infrastructure."

According to the amendment, many renovation and replacement projects will no longer have to go through a planning approval procedure as long as the route of the road remains essentially the same. The subsequent construction of cycle paths on these roads should also generally be possible without planning approval. Only major expansion projects with an environmental impact assessment will remain subject to the previous procedures.