A new wave of travelers is sweeping through Switzerland at the start of the summer holidays. On Saturday morning, traffic jams stretched for regarding ten kilometers on the A2 motorway in the canton of Uri, in front of the north portal of the Gotthard tunnel.
According to the Swiss Touring Club (TCS), the waiting time reaches one hour and 50 minutes. Already on Friday evening, traffic jams reached seven kilometers in front of the Gotthard in Göschenen (UR).
The situation should hardly ease on the traffic front this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the Viasuisse traffic information service expects a very high volume of traffic, as for the next coming weekends.
Until the end of August, traffic jams in front of the two portals of the tunnel are “virtually certain”, writes Viasuisse. On the last weekends of July, the traffic jams in front of the northern entrance might even last all night.
The Tour de France visits Switzerland
Waiting times are also to be expected on other motorway sections, in particular on the San Bernardino road and on the A1 between Lausanne and Geneva. The start of the holidays in July in Germany and the Netherlands also plays a role.
In addition, two stages of the Tour de France will cross Switzerland this weekend. The first will take the peloton from Dole (F) to Lausanne. The second, on Sunday, will go from Aigle (VD) to Châtel (F). If the highways remain open, many roads will remain closed for several hours in the regions concerned, or even all day in the city of Lausanne. Significant traffic disruptions are to be expected, warns the TCS.