Facts
In the Prausura/Gutveina area in the municipality of Flims, there is a group of buildings with several (holiday) homes, located about 150 m from the steeply sloping Stennatobel. In 1994, the main road project "Flims Bypass" was publicly presented, which provides for bypassing Flims-Dorf north of the Vallorca curves with the 2,922 m long Flimserstein Tunnel. This is to be followed by the crossing of the Stennatobel by means of a 69 m long bridge over the Flem, and then the road is to lead to the bypass of Flims-Waldhaus through the 479 m long Prau Pultè Tunnel up to the Staderas area (Flims-West).
Various owners of houses in the Prausura/Gutveina building group appealed against the project approval to the Administrative Court of the Canton of Graubünden, which dismissed the appeal on April 18, 1997. The appellants now demand that the project be modified in such a way that the Flem Bridge is covered and thus a continuous tunnel bypass of the Vallorca (Flims-East) to Staderas (Flims-West) settlement area is created.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismisses the appeal. It states that while according to Art. 11 para. 2 of the Environmental Protection Act (USG), there is generally a need for action for emission-limiting measures for a new facility, regardless of the existing environmental pollution, as long as such measures are technically and operationally feasible and economically viable. In the present case, however, the government has already ordered additional noise reduction measures by requiring the installation of sound-absorbing elements at the tunnel portals and the lining of the bridge parapets with noise-absorbing materials.
The Administrative Court has established in anticipatory assessment of evidence that covering the Flem Bridge would result in…