Alpine passes The Gotthard Pass road is open again
The Gotthard Pass road has been reopened this morning.
Image: Keystone
The first cars drive over the pass.
Image: Keystone
The Gotthard Pass road has been reopened this morning.
Image: Keystone
The first cars drive over the pass.
Image: Keystone
After the winter break, the road over the Gotthard Pass reopened on Friday morning. Travelers on the Gotthard axis now have an alternative to the road tunnel for a few months.
16.05.2025, 11:59
SDA
The snow has been cleared and the crash barriers have been installed: As announced, the road over the 2106-metre-high pass was reopened to traffic in mid-May.
The winter closure began on November 14, 2024. Since then, car traffic between the cantons of Uri and Ticino has had to use the 17-kilometre Gotthard road tunnel. As this can only be used by two-way traffic, traffic jams often form there.
With the opening of the pass road, an exit at the A2 exit in Göschenen UR will be extended to three kilometers. Drivers who want to drive over the pass will be able to avoid any traffic jams on this stretch shortly after Wassen UR without having to leave the highway. The aim is to reduce through traffic through the villages.
Demand for year-round operation
In the meantime, there are discussions in Bern about the year-round, i.e. winter-safe, operation of the Gotthard Pass road. A motion to this effect by SVP National Councillor Benjamin Giezendanner (AG), himself a transport entrepreneur, is pending in parliament. 57 fellow councillors from the SVP, FDP and centrist parliamentary groups have co-signed the motion. The National Council should soon decide on it as the first chamber.
The Federal Council is proposing that the motion be rejected. It points to the high costs. Various new protective galleries and tunnels would have to be built to ensure winter-safe operation. Rough estimates by the Federal Roads Office (Astra) assume that at least CHF 300 million will be needed for investment.
The federal government is currently investing around two billion Swiss francs in the construction of a second tunnel tube for the Gotthard road tunnel. Once this has been completed and the first tube has been repaired, the Gotthard route will be available more reliably, writes the Federal Council.
