11 kilometers of traffic jams the night before – Gotthard tunnel reopened in both directions – News

  • Day trippers to the south and holiday return traffic led to long traffic jams on both sides of the Gotthard road tunnel on Saturday.
  • Already on Saturday morning the vehicle convoys had grown to ten kilometers. In the evening it became eleven kilometers on the south side, as the Ticino police and the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) explained.
  • On Saturday evening, the police had to close the tunnels in both directions due to technical problems. Both directions of travel were reopened later on Sunday night.

The waiting times in the canton of Uri on the way south and in Ticino on the way north were up to two hours. The TCS recommended the San Bernardino route as an alternative. On Saturday evening, the Gotthard road tunnel was also closed in both directions for technical reasons, as TCS reported on Twitter shortly before 8 p.m.

In addition to the usual traffic jams caused by day-trippers heading south, the wave of return journeys has now started. In the canton of Aargau, the school holidays come to an end on Monday in the first Swiss canton. School will also start again next week in the most populous German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Trouble in Wassen

On days with increased traffic, many people take the cantonal road that runs through the village of Wassen. This causes anger among the local population. The municipality has therefore been demanding for a long time that the motorway exit be closed in traffic jams.

In a pilot test, however, the police are testing the blocking of the motorway entrance. She argues with the spaciousness and complexity of congestion management. According to Thorsten Imhof, commander of the cantonal police in Uri, the aim is to prevent motorists from changing to the cantonal road in Amsteg, Erstfeld or Flüelen.

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