Bernburg/Bördeland. Together we are strong! The municipal family in the Salzlandkreis district has demonstrated this once again. In addition to the district road 1292 between Großmühlingen and Eggersdorf, the Salzlandkreis district and the municipality of Bördeland are jointly building a new footpath and cycle path. District Administrator Markus Bauer and Mayor Marco Schmoldt signed a corresponding agreement between the district administration and the municipality on Monday at the district office in Bernburg. A few days earlier, the municipal council had committed to cooperation with the Salzlandkreis district as part of a policy decision. Also present at the signing of the agreement were Großmühlingen's mayor Ines Schleinitz and Eggersdorf's mayor Stefan Jacobs.
District Administrator Markus Bauer said that the new footpath and cycle path was a further boost for sustainable mobility in rural areas. "It was a joint local political will to develop this new connection. It's great that we have now found a solution together with the municipality that everyone is very happy with." The district administrator pointed out that previous administrative agreements with other towns and municipalities for the joint realisation of various projects have shown "that we can best move the region forward successfully if we define common goals and work together to achieve them". This is also the guiding principle of the Salzlandkreis 2030 future strategy, with which the Salzlandkreis is working to develop the region between Halle and Magdeburg into an attractive residential, business and science location. Markus Bauer: "We want to create the framework conditions for this." In this context, he thanked Mayor Marco Schmoldt for his constructive cooperation.
The agreement stipulates that the Salzland district, as project manager, will build the approximately 1.1 kilometre long and 2.50 metre wide section between the two towns in Bördeland with the help of funding from the special "Town and Country" programme. The district administration is taking care of the necessary planning, construction and acceptance work. The municipality of Bördeland is covering its own share of the costs and will take care of maintenance and upkeep after completion. The construction of the roadside link is expected to cost around 870,000 euros. The actual start of construction depends on the actual funding approval. Tilo Wechselberger, the head of the district development department, explained that there will be a working group between the district administration and the municipality so that the project can be fully monitored by all parties involved. The aim is to hand over a proper cycle path to the municipality after completion, which will take the existing infrastructure to a new level of quality.
When signing the contract, Bördeland Mayor Marco Schmoldt spoke of a unique opportunity that the municipality was seizing to build the new footpath and cycle path between Großmühlingen and Eggersdorf. "We are not only closing a gap in the existing cycle path network in our municipality. We are also building a safe connection between the two towns, which has always been used by many cyclists." As part of the new construction, several properties near the entrance to Großmühlingen will also be properly connected to the public infrastructure. The mayor said that in order to cover the municipality's own contribution of around 87,000 euros, the available funds from the federal government's special fund will be utilised. "This project is worth it to us." This is also shown by the fact that the municipal administration has created almost all the necessary legal planning requirements.