Road traffic Bernese association submits petition against highway expansion
On Thursday, the Spurwechsel association submitted a petition against the expansion of the A1 highway. More than 1,300 signatories called on the Bernese cantonal government and the Bern-Mittelland regional conference to take a stand against the expansion plans in the region.
11.07.2024, 13:33
SDA
The focus of the demand is the expansion of the two A1 sections Wankdorf-Schönbühl and Schönbühl-Kirchberg, as the association announced. This is part of the "2023 expansion step for the national roads" expansion package, which will be voted on by the Swiss electorate in November.
The canton and the regional conference would be violating their own spatial and transport planning objectives by supporting the expansion project, the press release continues. In particular, there is a contradiction with the strategy, according to which measures at the source of traffic are to be preferred to the expansion of infrastructure.
Initiative submitted in January
The association launched the petition at the same time as the similarly named "Traffic Monster Initiative", which was submitted in January and supported by 15 organizations. The municipal council declared it valid in March with around 5900 signatures. According to the text of the initiative, the city government should work towards "abandoning all national road projects in the Bern-Mittelland region that would allow more traffic".
With the petition, the canton and region should now also be held accountable, said Spurwechsel managing director Raphael Wyss to the Keystone-SDA news agency. It also aims to ensure that people without the right to vote in the city of Bern can also oppose the expansion.
