Tesla factory in Grünheide: the new development plan includes additional roads, tracks, cycle paths

The numbers are huge – up to 12,000 people are expected to work in the Tesla factory currently under approval. If Tesla expands its factory in the next few years, it could employ up to 40,000 workers, all of whom have to come to the factory in some way. In addition, the building materials must be brought to the factory and the finished Teslas will be transported out of the factory every day. It is considered well connected, but a lot has to happen to prevent cars, trucks, trains and bicycles from jamming with so much traffic.

Therefore, a proposal to change the local development plan in the Grünheid municipality and on the Internet is still available until 2 November. It essentially involves five construction measures:

To the north of the Tesla area, a new two-lane Berliner Ring motorway exit is planned, so that trucks can move easily on the state road, which is also under construction. This should – after a planned construction entrance – lead approximately 400 meters to the existing highway 23 east of the Tesla site.

A few meters north of this planned estuary, the L23 crosses the rails on which, among other things, the RE1 trains run. Here, a bridge will replace the fenced level crossing so that cars, cyclists and pedestrians don’t have to wait at the barriers when more regional express trains and freight trains arrive soon.

South of the Tesla site, additional lanes will be built on the L38 highway so that cars and trucks can enter Tesla’s factory and Freienbrink industrial park without slowing down the rest of the traffic.

Finally, the municipality of Grünheide is also planning to expand the car park at the Fangschleuse railway station by approximately 6,000 square meters. He wants to spend up to € 300,000, says Mayor Arne Christiani. The other construction measures are expected to be funded by the state of Brandenburg, which intends to invest a total of 78 million euros in the transportation infrastructure around the Tesla site.

If Mayor Christiani has his will, the representatives of the Grünheid community should decide on the revised development plan at their December 15 meeting. So the excavators could start rolling early next year. But even if it works, it will be years before all roads and motorway exits are ready. Christiani hopes all construction work will be finished by 2026. Tesla doesn’t want to wait that long and is therefore planning to build an exclusive factory exit at his own expense until the actual release is complete. The company is currently discussing this with the Highway Administration. The municipality of Grünheide also wants to expand the car park at the Fangschleuse train station from 11 November with advance approval so that all drivers can find a parking space when the RE1 stops every half hour from 13 December.

But community and state engagement alone will not be enough to cope with the deluge of commuters and materials in a 40,000-employee factory. Tesla also requires traffic solutions. Some of them were sketched by the Berlin traffic engineers in a report attached to the development plan. The Tesla plant is scheduled to operate on three 24-hour shifts with as many as 9,000 employees each. Also, there should be a day shift. In order for 9,000 employees not to leave and 9,000 more to arrive at the same time, Tesla is planning shift changes from department to department at different times. In this way, the shuttle traffic could be lengthened.

Since planners expect nearly two-thirds of employees to arrive by car, shift changes should also be arranged so that they don’t coincide with rush hour on the nearby Berlin ring road.

In order to further reduce car traffic, the designers suggest that Tesla promotes car pools, for example with special parking spaces at the plant. Corporate tickets could help encourage employees traveling from Berlin in particular to take the train. According to the report, shuttle buses from Erkner and Fangschleuse train station to the plant would also be useful.

If the Fangschleuse station is built closer to the plant, the employees might as well walk. But this is a separate approval process. The urban plan creates only the first conditions here, such as parking spaces on the new state road to be built. Finally, the planners are in favor of new and better cycling routes in the region. Tesla can also promote e-bikes so that as many employees in the region as possible cycle to work.