The committee has given the city authorities a final opportunity to halt construction of the four-lane bridge across the valley and undertake work to reverse the impact on the landscape. Otherwise, the site will be deleted from the World Heritage List next year.

The committee had decided last year that it would remove the site from the World Heritage List if a bridge were built, but has decided to give Dresden more time in view of legal proceedings under way in Germany. It felt that the opposition to the construction of the bridge must be given a chance to succeed and that remaining on the world heritage list would help that fight.

UNESCO is advocating a tunnel instead.