A4 allowed through Knonau area

After a great deal of waiting, the A4 motorway will finally be allowed through the Knonau area as of 13 November 2009. This section of the motorway between Zurich and the edge of the canton of Zug was built at the beginning of the 1970s but then put on hold due to various political moves. The opening of this stretch represents a milestone, both economically and in terms of transport planning, with travel times towards Zurich being noticeably reduced.

 

To commemorate the official opening, a launch party is being organised in April. The cantons of Zurich, Aargau and Zug are organising the "WestFest" from 24 - 26 April to celebrate the Zurich western by-pass and the imminent completion of the A4 in the Knonau region. Zug is also hosting two special attractions during the festivities. "We will have a pavilion at the WestFest in Wettswil am Albis in which we take a funny, sideways look at the A4 motorway," explains Heinz Tännler who is Zug's appointed construction officer. "And then we are also organising a special event for the people of Zug. On Sunday 19 April, we will be giving people the opportunity to travel along the Bibersee (Cham) – Islisberg tunnel South stretch either on foot, on inline skates or by bike. There will also be a special bus service run by the Zugerland transport office." This section of the A4 will be open from 9 am – 4 pm.

Who pays the bill?
After all these decades of waiting, the A4 is finally going to be completed therefore, but it is still causing political debate. The question now though is a far simpler one: who is going to pay for the WestFest? The cantons of Zug and Zurich are contributing CHF 300,000 each, even though Zurich was originally meant to be covering CHF 500,000 of the costs. Their reduced participation has been met with puzzlement both from the canton of Zug and from the Zurich construction department, who underlined the symbolic nature of the launch of the stretch of motorway and the need to communicate it to the public.