Road authorities in Switzerland have warned that the Christmas and New Year period could see heavy traffic on Swiss motorways, but asked drivers to avoid taking diversions on secondary roads.
The Swiss Federal Roads Office (OFROU) is anticipating heavy traffic on motorways over the Christmas and New Year period, especially on routes towards ski resorts.
The A1, A2, A3, A9 and A13 motorways will be particularly affected, especially in the Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne and Lugano regions, as well as around the Gotthard and San Bernardino tunnels.
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The peak of return traffic is expected between 1 and 4 January.
OFROU recommends that motorists stay on motorways, even in the event of heavy traffic, in order to avoid causing extra traffic in nearby towns. Drivers taking diversions to avoid motorway traffic can overload secondary roads, disrupt public transport and increase the risk of accidents, the body states.
In a recent statement, OFROU added: “Local private and business traffic is disrupted, as are public transport and soft mobility on cantonal and municipal roads, and the risk of accidents increases. It is therefore important that travellers stay on the motorway even in the event of traffic jams, if only out of respect for the local population.”
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Slowdowns are also to be expected during the festive season on certain main roads in the Alps, particularly in the Bernese Oberland, Graubünden and Valais.
At the Furka (VS/UR), Lötschberg (VS/BE) and Vereina (GR) rail-road interchanges, waiting times are possible during departures (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and returns (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
According to OFROU, at Lötschberg work on the summit tunnel will be completed in mid-December, allowing half-hourly services to resume.
Repair work on the concrete damage in the Lötschberg summit tunnel will be completed when the new timetable comes into effect on Sunday 14 December, and the car train service will resume its usual half-hourly frequency.
Additional trains will be put into service during busy periods. BLS car trains between Brig and Iselle will run hourly during the Christmas holidays and on weekends.
You can find information on departure times in the online timetable HERE.
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