is an

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The A 143 comprises the western leg of the ''Mitteldeutsche Schleife'' (Central German Loop), a beltway around the cities of

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. 9 km of the planned 22 km route have been completed, due to the autobahn's path potentially disturbing an environmentally sensitive area.

History

After reunification, the A 143 was one of the first projects to begin planning under the new government. The A 143 project was placed under top priority in the ''Bundesverkehrswegeplan'' (Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan) of 1992, and the original plan was for at least part of the highway to open within a year. However, the A 143's path goes through an environmentally sensitive area, part of which is protected by the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...

. The southernmost 9 km was not built and opened until July 11, 2005. Construction on the remaining 12.6 km is currently blocked from proceeding after a successful lawsuit by the ''

Naturschutzbund Deutschland The Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. ("Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union") or NABU is a German non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to conservation at home and abroad, including the protection of rivers, forests and individu ...

'' (NABU). According to the NABU, the highway threatens the habitats of

great crested newts The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt (''Triturus cristatus'') is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to ...

European polecat The European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), also known as the common polecat, black polecat, or forest polecat, is a species of mustelid native to western Eurasia and North Africa. It is of a generally dark brown colour, with a pale underbelly ...

s, and some 25 different species of dragonflies.

DEGES The Deutsche Einheit Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau GmbH (DEGES) (''German Unity motorway planning and construction company'') is a state-owned project management institution founded on October 7, 1991, about one year after the German reunificatio ...

plans to meet all of NABU's concerns and restart construction by 2011, but the NABU and most local residents are still opposed to the project, and the NABU intends to continue using lawsuits to stop construction. The 18-year delay in construction has added an estimated

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

70 million to the project's initial projected cost of €80 million.

Exit list

References

Autobahn Atlas: A143
{{Bundesautobahn 143 Ring roads in Germany