The Autobahn GmbH Rheinland closes the A4 in the direction of Olpe between the Cologne-West interchange and the Eifeltor junction. The closure begins on Friday, 12 September 2025 at 10:00 PM and ends on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 5:00 AM. Traffic toward Aachen is not affected by the measure. Access onto the A4 toward Olpe is still possible at the Eifeltor interchange.
Reason for the works
According to the Autobahn GmbH, the rehabilitation and repair works on the severely damaged road surface are only possible with a full closure. The construction measure serves as preparation for an optimized
traffic management in the Olpe direction, which is oriented toward a comparable adjustment in the Aachen direction. In addition, the reconstruction is intended to prevent further damage to the road surface and thus avoid additional closures in the coming years.
Impact on travel patterns
Several traffic movements at the Cologne-West interchange are affected by the closure. It will not be possible to travel from the A1 in Dortmund or Koblenz onto the A4 toward Olpe, nor from the A4 coming from Aachen further onto the A4 toward Olpe. Also at the Köln-Klettenberg interchange, road users cannot enter the A4
toward Olpe; however, the ramp toward Aachen remains open.
Detours for long-distance and city traffic
For regional through traffic, the Autobahn GmbH recommends a broad detour. Guidance will be provided via dynamic directional signs. The official detour leads from the Köln-West interchange via the A1 toward Dortmund and from the Leverkusen interchange via the A3 toward Frankfurt to the Köln-Ost interchange.
In the city area, additional detour routes have been set up. Traffic coming from Cologne is directed via Luxemburger Straße and Militärringstraße to the Köln-Eifeltor interchange. For traffic from Hürth, the detour runs via Luxemburger Straße, the L92,
and the street “Am Eifeltor” to the Köln-Eifeltor interchange.
Background to the measure
In April 2025, experts identified significant deficiencies at the DB grade-separated structure “Eifeltor” along the A4 in the southern part of Cologne. Since then, there has been a separate traffic management in place there, which will remain until the planned replacement construction. In June 2025, the traffic management in the direction of Aachen was already optimized by staging the lanes separately and adjusting the signage. To be able to implement the same solution for the Olpe direction as well, the works now scheduled are required. (av)
