Gotthard traffic jam stretches 18 km, Uri villagers protest overflow with pedestrian blockade

Traffic chaos at the Gotthard

Holiday traffic heading south through the Swiss Alps ground to a halt on Saturday as the queue before the Gotthard road tunnel stretched to 18 kilometers. The TCS motoring club reported waiting times of up to three hours between Altdorf and Göschenen in canton Uri. A construction site inside the 17-kilometer tunnel, which narrows the carriageway and is expected to remain until the end of 2028, compounded the usual summer rush. Drivers passed the time with horn concerts and stretching their legs at the roadside, according to a reporter for Blick.

Villages overwhelmed by overflow

As the motorway jam grew, navigation apps pushed traffic onto cantonal roads, flooding villages like Schattdorf and Amsteg with cars. "All of Europe drove through our village," said Schattdorf resident Bruno S., describing streets so packed that pedestrians could no longer cross. Images from Amsteg showed a line of vehicles snaking through the centre. The overflow has been a persistent grievance: daily traffic on the A2 at the Gotthard has climbed from around 8,000 vehicles in 1981, the year the tunnel opened, to almost 20,000 last year, with peaks above 30,000. In 2025, more than seven million passages were recorded in both directions, equivalent to 182 cars for every resident of Uri.

Protest in Amsteg

Around 60 people gathered at the pedestrian crossing in front of the church in Amsteg late on Saturday morning, organized by IG Kanton Uri and Pro Alps. They repeatedly crossed the road in slow groups, waving Uri flags and holding signs reading "Ihr fahrt uns direkt durch die Stube" and "Es stinkt uns." An alphorn player accompanied the demonstration. When a French-registered Ford driver honked in frustration, protester Walter Walker shouted, "You don't need to honk so stupidly! Turn around, turn around!" The driver eventually raised his windows and waited.

You don't need to honk so stupidly! Turn around, turn around!

The action brought overflow traffic to a standstill. Organizers said the disruption proved that effective protection measures are possible when authorities act.

Police response and demands

Uri cantonal police had already begun redirecting overflow traffic back onto the motorway at Erstfeld and Amsteg early in the morning. Pikettoffizier Urs Aschwanden stated that the measure was taken because of the overloaded traffic situation, not the protest. "Our goal is to ensure public transport and the rescue axis and to relieve the municipalities as best as possible in terms of traffic," he said. The protest organizers are demanding temporary driving bans on cantonal and municipal roads on days of heavy congestion, invoking the Alpine protection article of the Swiss Federal Constitution. They argue that the population's quality of life, safety, and clean air must take precedence over holiday traffic.

Our goal is to ensure public transport and the rescue axis and to relieve the municipalities as best as possible in terms of traffic.

Historical context and alternatives

The Gotthard route is one of the most important north-south Alpine crossings, used by holidaymakers from Germany, the Netherlands, France, and beyond heading to Italy. Jams are common in summer and before public holidays; when other crossings are closed by construction, queues have exceeded 25 kilometers. The TCS recommended wide detours via the San Bernardino tunnel or the Simplon and Great St. Bernard passes. In 2024, the federal government introduced measures such as temporary motorway junction closures, but residents say they remain overwhelmed. Saturday's protest was the latest in a series of actions; a petition had already been submitted in 2023.