Voting for tunnel in Switzerland

Voting has been held in Switzerland for the construction of a second tunnel for road traffic at Gotthard.
February 29, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Voting has been held in Switzerland for the construction of a second tunnel for road traffic at Gotthard. Inhabitants of the country's Uri Canton were given the choice on whether to build the second tunnel but voted against the project. The final decision on whether the project will go ahead however depends on the 2561 Swiss Federal Government.

The benefit of a second link would be that another route would be available while a 30 month project to upgrade the existing Gotthard Road Tunnel would be carried out. However some have commented that a second tunnel would result in more traffic through the Gotthard area.

The local government in the canton of Graubünden has commented that it is in favour of the construction of a second Gotthard tunnel rather than an upgraded to the existing link however. This follows support for the new tunnel from the local governments in the cantons of Ticino and Uri.

The authorities agree that the San Bernardino road would suffer from congestion should the existing tunnel be reconstructed. This could result in truck traffic having to be redirected. However, the Swiss association Alpen-Initiative has criticised the comments in favour of a second tunnel saying that Switzerland should do more to boost rail transport instead.
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