2024-08-23 12:40:48
Following last week’s severe storms, the Arlberg Pass road (B197) will return to dual carriageway from 6pm on Friday and will be open to all traffic during the day. Tyrol announced that this was decided during an assessment of the situation. Before this can happen, one last important piece of work must be completed, such as repaving half of the 270-meter-long section of asphalt. Cleanup work in Sankt Anton am Arlberg is progressing rapidly.
It is said that work on Arlberg Boulevard will continue even after traffic opens. Drainage, shoulders and guardrails still need to be repaired, and the sediment basin needs further clearing. According to the country, this could take several weeks. Traffic should no longer be significantly affected at this stage, but traffic enforcement officers may conduct short-term stops. The total cost along the route is estimated at half a million euros. Responsible Deputy Governor Josef Geisler (ÖVP) noted the need to ensure that protected buildings can continue to fulfill their functions.
State Governor Anton Martel (ÖVP) emphasized the importance of transport connections between Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Therefore, they work “quickly”. No one was injured, “very lucky”. The safety of emergency services must also be ensured during the remainder of the work. Zams’ road maintenance department has four excavators, eight trucks, up to two wheel loaders and 12 employees in use at all times. Further work will also be conducted by the city, flood and avalanche control departments and other companies.
After massive damage, black and red state governments decided to respond by providing additional financial resources. For private natural disasters, 50% of the damage amount comes from the disaster fund, half of which is provided as emergency assistance. Finally, the state government will increase funding for flash flood and avalanche control construction plans in 2024 by €4 million to allow for faster implementation of emergency measures following landslides, landslides and rockfalls. However, the total amount of damage to St. Anton has yet to be determined.
At the same time, the main work in St. Anton is clearly in the sprint stage. Mayor Helmut Mall told APA that work “in the valley area” should be completed by Friday. 40,000 cubic meters of supplies have been transported here. The house was also cleaned and the place “visually” restored. There are still some “minor issues” to resolve, and of course work on the sediment basin. This still requires “tens of thousands” of cubic meters to be cleared and released. At the request of the community, federal troops will also be deployed next Monday and Tuesday to complete the remaining work. The deployment of 50 armed forces soldiers is also to relieve the burden on hundreds of emergency organization aid workers, including many volunteers.
St. Anton sometimes experiences mudslides up to a meter high, and vehicles and houses are hit by mud and flash floods. At least 35 buildings as well as several bridges and roads were damaged in the popular tourist community of Arlberg. Some areas in the east and west of St Anton’s and areas around two roundabouts were particularly badly affected. In places such as the so-called Jungbrunntobel, massive mudslides occurred, after which two streams overflowed their banks and became blocked. But no one was hurt.
During the storm, Arlbergstrasse was affected by mudslides on both sides of Vorarlberg and Tyrol. A massive landslide blocked the road on the Tyrolean side near St. Anton. A mudslide occurred on the road near Sankt Christoph am Arlberg in Vorarlberg, and the entire road was relocated. The road was severely washed away, with the lane leading to Tyrol destroyed and about 60 meters of the road washed away. Temporary solutions were established in the affected areas. The road finally reopened overnight on Monday. Until Friday access was only available between 8pm and 7am.
Since the Arlbergstrasse tunnel is closed until November for renovation works, both roads on the Arlbergstrasse are impassable or only accessible to a limited extent. To make matters worse, the Silvretta Alpine Road on the Vorarlberg side is also closed until further notice for repairs due to rockfalls in mid-July and another mudslide on 17 August. Vorarlberg can only be reached from Tyrol and vice versa, via the Lechtal River or Germany.
The Sellraintalstrasse (L13) in the Innsbruck-Land district is also affected and should be open to traffic again from 6pm on Saturday after a mudslide on Friday. The country announced on Friday that final cleanup and security efforts were underway. 7,000 cubic meters of material and 700 trucks have been removed. A single-lane traffic light will be in effect on this stretch of road starting Saturday. Lieutenant Governor Geisler thanked the emergency services for being “extraordinarily dedicated.”
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