The Autobahn GmbH Rheinland closes the A4 in the direction of Olpe between the Cologne-West interchange and the Eifeltor interchange. The closure begins on Friday, 12 September 2025 at 22:00 and ends on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 05:00. Traffic toward Aachen is not affected by the closure. Merging onto the A4 toward Olpe at the Eifeltor interchange remains possible.
Reason for the works
According to Autobahn GmbH, the rehabilitation and restoration work on the severely damaged roadway can only be carried out under a full closure. The construction project serves to prepare for
an optimized traffic management in the Olpe direction, based on a comparable adjustment toward Aachen. In addition, the rehabilitation should prevent further damage to the pavement and thus avoid additional closures in the coming years.
Impact on travel connections
Several travel connections at the Cologne-West interchange are affected by the closure. It is not possible to travel from the A1 from 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 merge onto the A4
toward Olpe; however the on-ramp toward Aachen remains open.
Detours for long-distance and urban traffic
For long-distance regional traffic, Autobahn GmbH recommends a wide detour. Information will be provided via dynamic traffic guidance boards. The official detour runs from the Cologne-West interchange via the A1 toward Dortmund and from the Leverkusen interchange via the A3 toward Frankfurt to the Cologne-East 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 of the measure
In April 2025, experts identified significant deficiencies at the DB crossing structure “Eifeltor” on the A4 in the southern Cologne area. Since then, there has been a separate traffic management in place there, which will be maintained until the planned replacement construction. In June 2025, the traffic management in the direction of Aachen was already optimized by staggered lane separation and adjusted signage. To implement the same solution for the Olpe direction, the measures now scheduled
