National Council wants to protect Urner villages
Gotthard
« It’s enough hay below »: National Council wants to protect Urner villages from alternative traffic
The hours on the Gotthardstrasse tunnel are increasing continuously. Now the National Council has decided to combat alternative traffic.
Such pictures displeasure from the Uri: Because of traffic jams on the highway, there is a density stress on the Kantonsstrasse, here in Wassen.
- In one Civil initiative the canton of Uri demands that the volume of traffic on the Gotthard axis to be better controlled.
- Cantons on the north-south transactions should be able to temporarily block affected cantonal thoroughfare in particularly precarious situations, except for locals and feeder traffic. This is what the National Council’s transport commission demands in one Motion. Throughout the road are important connecting paths. You ensure that all regions of the country remain accessible.
- The National Council Transport Commission then demands that operators to be obliged to navigation devicestemporarily blocked main streets so as not to guide drivers on barricaded paths. Streets that are not considered to be through streets can in the meantime close the cantons and municipalities on traffic jams on their own.
First Simon Stadler, spokesman in the fight against alternative traffic, collected a damper. Like the Council of States, the National Council wiped the registry initiative off the table. In the Council of States, even the two Uri votes, Josef Dittli (FDP) and Heidi Z’Graggen (center), had voted. They already saw many demands met. Thanks to measures, the situation was noticeably better than before, Dittli stated. The alternative traffic had been massively throttled. With the traffic jam on the highway, according to Dittli, the Uri could live.
The measure has proven itself: the more entrances are blocked, the longer the column becomes. It is no longer worth breaking out to the cantonal road.
Stadler assesses the situation for alternative traffic, differently than Dittli. The cantonal roads are always massively overloaded.
Despite rejected initiative, the Middle National Council was one of the winners at the end of the debate: the other two advances were well called the National Council, against the will of the Federal Council.
Rösti refused special rules for Alpine crossings
National Councilor Benjamin Giezendanner (SVP, AG) warned of the passage road barrier against a prejudice: that one day other routes, for example between Zofingen and Olten, on which many more vehicles can be removed every day than through the Urner Reusstal. In such a scenario, a traffic infarction threatens. Stadler replied that the traffic politician would also find someone in Liestal or Muttenz who did gardening with hearing protection.
Meanwhile, Federal Councilor Albert Rösti pointed out that cantons can already temporarily close through streets, but in consultation with the federal government. The positions were not far apart. However, he defended himself against the idea of creating special rules for the Alpine compounds.
Rösti pointed out that Switzerland could not enforce its right to operators from abroad. Ultimately, however, the Transport Minister in vain against Navi-Motion.
