LuxTram extension to Cloche d'Or; Credit: MMTP

On Monday 14 January 2019, François Bausch, Luxembourg's Minister of Mobility and Public Works, together with officials of the Administration des Ponts et Chaussées, presented details of the plans to extend the tram in Luxembourg city to the cloche d'Or, involving the complete refurbishment of the Pont Buchler linking Luxembourg-Gare with Bonnevoie to widen it to cater for tram traffic.

The route of a later phase of LuxTram (first it will be extended from the Place de l'Etoile to Luxembourg-Gare, then from Luxembourg-Kirchberg to LuxAirport, and then from Luxembourg-Gare to the Cloche d'Or) will require the Pont Buchler to be refurbished. However, due to its strategic position in linking Luxembourg-Gare with Bonnevoie over the main railway lines south of the train station, the refurbishment works will need to be planned in a phased capacity.

"With the expansion of Luxembourg-Gare (platforms 5 & 6), this project is the most important for mobility in Luxembourg, because it will bring a huge increase in capacity. We will make the Pont Buchler a multimodal bridge, where pedestrians, cyclists, buses, cars and the tram will evolve," said the minister. The Pont Buchler is therefore the starting point of the new N3 which will join the Rue des Scillas by the Rangwee. "This is a particularly complex site," said Minister Bausch. "It can be said, an open-heart operation in the centre of the capital with implications for rail traffic."

To give the necessary space to the tram on the one hand, and to promote soft mobility on the other hand, the enlargement work will start on 21 January with the extension of the ramp on the side of Luxembourg-Gare. Then, during the first phase of the works, during the months of February and March, part of the southern surface will be dismantled, then rebuilt in September and October by the addition of a metal construction with subsequent completion of a slab.

During the second phase of the work, in June and July 2020, the North part of the bridge will be dismantled, which will result in CFL lane cuts during the night and the weekend. A new metal construction will be put in place during the months of March and April 2020, going hand in hand with CFL cuts and subsequent laying of a new surface.

As far as traffic redirection is concerned during the works, bicycles and pedestrians will be redirected to the Mühlenweg, while bus traffic will be maintained bidirectionally, even if the bus lane will disappear.

Individual motorised traffic will continue to operate in both directions, but minue one lane in the direction of Bonnevoie and the left turn towards the ring road.

After commissioning of the new N3, traffic calming measures will be implemented on the Route de Thionville.

The widening of the bridge, which is part of the extensions of the tram, will last 2 years and will be fully financed by the State.
 
 
Photo (MMTP; L-R): Minister François Bausch; Roland Fox, Administration des Ponts et Chaussees