Switzerland’s annual summer getaway hit an early bottleneck on Saturday morning as the queue in front of the Gotthard road tunnel stretched to 20 kilometres before 09:00. According to the Swiss Touring Club (TCS) and Police Uri, the waiting time on the A2 motorway in the direction of Ticino peaked at almost three hours. Traffic authorities immediately activated the established ‘Ticino bypass’ – rerouting motorists over the A13 San Bernardino route – and broadcast congestion warnings on national and German-language radio. The Gotthard jam is a ritual of the main school-holiday change-over weekend, but this year’s lines were longer than forecast because Germany’s most populous states as well as parts of the Netherlands began holidays on the same date. Cross-border leisure traffic therefore coincided with heavy domestic flows, filling Swiss motorway service areas north of Lucerne before sunrise. Freight forwarders reported delays to just-in-time deliveries across the Alps, and several German coach operators informed passengers of unscheduled rest stops while awaiting the tunnel. For business travellers, the backlog underscores the vulnerability of Switzerland’s north-south trade artery. Roughly two-thirds of Switzerland’s imports from Italy and the broader Mediterranean corridor still move by road. Logistics groups DHL Freight and Galliker advised shippers to pad schedules by up to 24 hours and consider rail-road combined transport via the Lötschberg–Simplon axis, which remained fluid. Cantonal police reminded motorists that overtaking in the queue is prohibited and that engines should be switched off during stand-stills to cut emissions. The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO/ASTRA) said that lane-meter counts suggest the worst congestion will ease after 16:00 but that long queues are likely to return on Sunday when Dutch caravans traditionally reach Switzerland. While seasonal jams at the Gotthard rarely influence visa or border-control policy, they do affect expatriate families on home leave and corporate assignees relocating by car. Mobility managers are advising employees to travel overnight or to book rail car-shuttle services through Lötschberg to avoid productivity losses as the European holiday wave gains momentum.
Source: SWI swissinfo.ch
