The Gotthard tunnel was closed for an hour on Saturday morning due to a burst tire. The incident caused long queues at both entrances. Since the summer holidays there has hardly been a day without traffic jams in the Gotthard.
ATS
Before the tire burst, the cars were already blocked, and this from 9:00 a.m. in the north, Viasuisse told the Keystone-ATS news agency on Saturday. However, the autumn holidays have not started either in Switzerland or in Germany.
The incident nearly doubled the size of traffic jams, which reached 14 kilometers in the north and nine kilometers in the south, respectively, the TCS tweeted. Motorists traveling from the north had to take their troubles patiently for two hours and twenty minutes. Those coming from the south had to wait an hour and fifty minutes.
Unpublished
According to Viasuisse, the number of cars traveling southbound is higher than ever. Since the summer holidays there has hardly been a day without a traffic jam in the Gotthard. Accidents and breakdowns are also more frequent these days.
Michael Krein, analyst at Viasuisse, believes that this situation may be due to changes in behavior on the part of travelers, who would take the plane less. Viasuisse has also observed an increase in the number of elderly people and people without school children on the roads.
The weather also played a role this weekend: as autumn set in in the north, Ticino again enjoyed sunny weather and summer heat with 24 degrees.
lt, ats