The Easter holidays have begun

Long traffic jams in front of the Gotthard tunnel heading south are inevitable during the Easter break. 

Traffic was backed up forup to 14 kilometres at 10.00 a.m. on Saturday.
The canton of Uri is once again taking various measures to control the avalanche of traffic this spring. These rules will apply until the Gotthard tunnel opens.

There was also a traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Sunday: the traffic jam was four kilometres long between Wassen and Göschenen, and between Quinto and Airolo,. The motorway entrances at Wassen, Göschenen and Airolo were closed. The Gotthard Pass itself is still under winter closure.

The Easter traffic jams have begun
With the start of the Easter vacations, traffic on the A2 highway heading south has increased dramatically. There was a traffic jam with a length of 13 kilometres between Erstfeld and Göschenen on Saturday, with delays of up to 3 hours to be expected. The motorway entrances at Wassen and Göschenen were closed, and the diverted traffic also caused major congestion on the main road from Flüelen in the direction of the Gotthard.

Travelers are advised to take the alternative route via the A13 motorway through the San Bernardino tunnel and the A9 Simplon freeway.

There are also already traffic jams at the border crossings to Italy.

Anyone heading south by car will need a lot of patience on Saturday    Photo: BRK News

it's almost a law of nature: as soon as Easter is around the corner, cars start to pile up again in front of the portal of the Gotthard road tunnel. Congestion peaks of up to 13 kilometres were measured last year before the Gotthard Pass opened.

Five measures have been implemented to tackle the traffic that threatens to clog up the cantonal roads. The canton of Uri is once again taking various measures from Friday, 4th April, as has now been announced:

Measure 1: The motorway entrance at Göschenen will be closed once there is three kilometres of congestion. The barrier at the Göschenen motorway entrance heading south will remain closed as long as there is a traffic jam of three kilometres or more. This measure will reduce the traffic on the cantonal road from Erstfeld to Wassen/Göschenen.

Measure 2: The motorway entrance at Wassen will be closed once there is a traffic jam of three kilometres. The Wassen motorway entrance heading south will no longer be passable while the traffic jam is three kilometres. The effect of this measure is that southbound travel from Amsteg is only possible via the A2 motorway, and alternative traffic on the cantonal road between Amsteg and Wassen is made impossible.

Measure 3: Window for opening the Göschenen motorway entrance. If the traffic jam is three kilometres or longer and if the motorway entrances at Göschenen and Wassen are closed, the motorway entrance at Göschenen will be opened four times for 15 minutes a time: 6.45 - 7 am, 8.15 - 8.30 am, 5.15 - 5.30 pm and 6.45 - 7 pm. This measure ensures that locals, employees and vacationers can use the southbound entrance.

Measure 4: Speed reduction on the A2 motorway. The speed limit on the A2 motorway between Altdorf and Amsteg will be reduced to 80 km/h when there are  traffic jams of eight kilometres or more. The aim of this measure is to slow down southbound traffic, reduce the burden on road users in Uri and reduce the risk of accidents when traffic jams occur.

Measure 5: Metering of exits from the motorway at Erstfeld and Amsteg. As in the last two years, exit metering will be carried out, depending on the load on the cantonal road.

These measures have been largely accepted by the population, says Werner Gnos, deputy head of the Uri traffic police. “You can see that the measures are bringing benefits. Traffic jam avoidance traffic has been reduced.” But there are also people in Uri who would like to drive to the south at critical times, and they are less happy about the measures.

It used to be possible for locals to use the Göschenen entrance every hour. As described in Measure 3, these times have now been restricted. “We keep these special openings very short so as not to provoke a diversion effect from the transit axis. If the openings were longer, the navigation devices would react and suggest a detour,” explains Werner Gnos. ”The special openings are really only intended for people who absolutely need to use them.” He is referring primarily to the Uri economy, the Andermatt tourist region and the army, which is stationed in Andermatt. “The time slots are being actively used,” the police observe.

Measures will remain in place until the Gotthard Pass opens
There is also a great deal of understanding for the measures among transit travellers, according to Werner Gnos. But a certain potential for conflict cannot be ruled out, particularly with regard to Measure 5, the exit restrictions. “It's not easy for everyone to accept that their personal freedom of movement has to be restricted. What's more, the dosage is not ensured by the police, but by a security service,” points out the deputy head of the BVP.

The measures only apply until the Gotthard Pass is opened. Although this will cause a shift in traffic - the pass has a capacity of 600 to 800 vehicles per hour - experience shows that the opening of the pass will also massively increase the volume of traffic, as the vacations will begin in many places. According to Werner Gnos, the traffic jam in front of the road tunnel is therefore unlikely to decrease.
For this reason, new measures will be announced under the leadership of the Uri Safety Directorate, the Uri Construction Directorate and the Federal Roads Office (Astra) by a Uri congestion management working group for the opening of the pass. “These are currently still being worked out, and will be announced later", he adds.