Weather dampens Easter traffic

The traditional traffic jam at the Gotthard road tunnel – a main artery for southbound vacationers – has been shorter than usual, officials say. The main reason: the weather.

The Easter holiday began on Friday in Switzerland, which normally means a huge build-up of traffic at the tunnel. However, at midday traffic officials reported nine kilometres of traffic, or 1.5 hours wait, less than last year’s 14 kilometres (2.5 hour wait).

By the late afternoon, the queue had gone down to 7km and by 6pm it was down to 2km, according to the Swiss news agency SDA-ATS.

Oliver Schürch from the Uri Cantonal Police told Swiss public television SRF that 2,000 fewer cars than normal were registered on Good Friday morning, that’s a 8% drop.

Bad weather

The reasons were the bad weather in the southern canton of Ticino, a well-loved holiday destination at Easter, and the rail tunnel which brings people southwards comfortably and without any traffic jams, he said.

Temperatures have been cold across the country on Friday, with temperatures ranging between 2 and 12 degrees Celsius. Many places woke up to frost. An improvement is expected on Easter Monday. Overall March has been one the greyestsince measurements began, SRF Meteo said on Thursday. Only in March 1986 did the sun shine less, it said.

More long waits at the Gotthard tunnel are expected for the return journey, starting from Sunday afternoon, said Viasuisse, the traffic information organisation. The high point is expected to be Easter Monday, with holidaymakers likely having to be patient for up to four hours between 3pm and 10pm.

In 2016, votersbacked theplan to build the secondGotthard road tunnel through the central Swiss Alps.

+Read more about the project here.