The first steps are being taken in Copenhagen for Lynetteholmenthe city's most extensive construction project. Over the next few decades, there are plans to build a seven kilometre long peninsula at the northern entrance to the harbour, Ydre Nordhavn. This project will not only provide new living space and recreational areas, but will also serve as a protective measure against the increasing storm surges caused by climate change. A total of 275 hectares of usable land (equivalent to 85 football pitches) will be reclaimed from the Baltic Sea.
First, a stone border is built, which is then filled with rubble. This boundary is being built in two stages, the first of which has already been completed: the connection between Lynetteholmen in the south and the existing Refshaleøen peninsula. Work is now beginning on the much larger second stage, which will include the area to the north. As a result, the main fairway, Kronløbet, will in future look more like a canal, the northern side of which will be bordered by the new district of Nordhavn.
But even if the completion of Lynetteholmen is still a long way off, the construction work is already leading to permanent changes for shipping traffic.
Pleasure craft are particularly affected, as the old connection between Öresund and Langelinie (with the pleasure craft harbour there) is now permanently closed. A special traffic regulation now applies to the remaining Kronløbet: while incoming and outgoing commercial shipping continues to use the main channel, a separate second fairway has been set up for pleasure craft on its southern edge.
Bins and light signals for safe traffic
Its starboard side is marked with green buoys, the port side with the yellow buoys of the construction site boundary. Traffic lights have also been installed on both the seaward and inland sides: Three red flashing lights on top of each other mean that the passage is temporarily prohibited for leisure shipping. A sign at the former inland access to Lynetteløbet indicates the permanent closure. The seaward approach to Margretheholms Havn will remain possible, but will also be secured by a safety gate.
According to current plans, it will be decades before Lynetteholmen is completed - with residential neighbourhoods for up to 30,000 people and a very naturally designed waterfront area with sandy beaches and a strip of coastal forest typical of the Baltic Sea. The target date is 2070.
