- Travel traffic on the driveway to the south led to traffic jams on Thursday morning.
- In addition, a dozen climate activists blocked the A2 motorway between Wassen and Göschenen. After half an hour they were taken away by the police.
- A ten-kilometer traffic jam formed on the San Bernardino route, which was recommended as an alternative route.
The traffic jam is currently 13 kilometers long and the waiting time is up to two hours and 10 minutes, as the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) reports on the short message service X.
Shortly after 7 a.m., the standing motorcade between Erstfeld UR and Göschenen UR in front of the Gotthard road tunnel reached a length of ten kilometers.
As the morning progressed, the traffic jam grew to a length of up to 16 kilometers. This meant a waiting time of over two hours and 40 minutes for the journey through the 17 kilometer long road tunnel to Ticino.
Climate activists with a short blockade campaign
Around lunchtime, the climate movement Renovate Switzerland organized a short blockade of the most important north-south axis near Wassen UR. Around ten activists partially glued themselves to the road.
Activists block access to the Gotthard
The police had to relieve the protesters and then carried them away from the highway. According to the Uri cantonal police, the evacuation only lasted a short time. Nothing has changed in the existing traffic jam.
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Alternative route also congested
But the motorway network also reached its limits in other places. The San Bernardino route via the A13 through Graubünden was recommended as an alternative route alongside the Simplon route through Valais. In the canton of Graubünden, a ten-kilometer-long traffic jam also formed around lunchtime between Chur-Süd and Bonaduz GR. The TCS put the time loss there at around an hour.
Legend:
Every year again: The sheet metal avalanche also forms in front of the Gotthard Tunnel on the ascent weekend.
BRK News
On other busy motorway stretches, such as the A1 motorway, traffic was also slow on some sections. There was also a lot of activity at the car loading points at Vereina and Lötschberg, where waiting times of around two hours had to be expected early on Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday before the entrance, a standing metal queue of 13 kilometers long had already formed on the A2 motorway in front of the Gotthard bottleneck. The car occupants also had to wait more than two hours to drive through the tunnel into Ticino.
Full steam ahead to Ticino
SBB’s north-south services were also actively used. Individual trains were fully booked on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. And according to SBB, there were no more free seats for the return trip on Sunday. According to SBB, because standing room is also limited, train managers may have to ask passengers to leave the train if there are too many passengers on the train.
North-south traffic and the associated disruptions were also a topic at the Federal Council meeting. The government decided to take measures to combat alternative traffic along the highways in the Alpine region. However, tunnel fees or a so-called slot management system for tunnels are out of the question for the state government.