Facts
In 1987, the Swiss Federal Council decided to put into operation the section of National Highway N 4 between the Blegi junction and Knonau, which had been largely completed in the 1970s and had since been decommissioned. Based on an agreement between the Cantons of Zug and Zurich, the partial commissioning of N 4 on Zug soil was to be realized to relieve the municipalities of Steinhausen and Cham, and a provisional access ramp was to be constructed in the Bibersee area for this purpose. The Swiss Traffic Association (VCS) filed an objection to this project and demanded that an environmental impact assessment be carried out first.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court ruled that no additional environmental impact assessment was required for the partial opening of National Highway N 4, as the existing environmental impacts would merely be redistributed and no significant changes would be made. However, an assessment is necessary if a new motorway access is created for the partial opening, which was not provided for in the general project or the original implementation project. Since such a new access was planned in the present case, the project was subject to an environmental impact…