Freeways National highway expansion rejected with 52.7 percent of votes against
The federal government must abandon the expansion of six Swiss highway sections. At the ballot box, voters rejected five expansion projects in German-speaking Switzerland and one project in French-speaking Switzerland with a 52.7 percent "no" vote.
According to the results from the cantons, around 1,316,500 voters said no to the federal decree on the 2023 expansion phase for the motorways. Around 1,181,600 voters were in favor. The turnout was around 45 percent.
This means that the widening of the A1 between Bern-Wankdorf and Schönbühl BE to eight lanes and between Schönbühl and Kirchberg BE to six lanes cannot be realized. In western Switzerland, the A1 between Le Vengeron GE and Nyon VD will not be widened to six lanes.
Also off the table are the construction of a third tube of the Rosenberg tunnel on the A1 near St. Gallen and a second tube of the Fäsenstaub tunnel on the A4 in Schaffhausen. In the Basel area, the A2 east bypass will not be relieved of through traffic with a new Rhine tunnel between Birsfelden BL and Kleinhüningen. The federal government wanted to spend CHF 4.9 billion on the six projects.
Decisive women
The cantons of Solothurn, Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Nidwalden, Schwyz, St. Gallen, the two cantons of Appenzell, Thurgau, Schaffhausen and Zug said yes, while all the others said no. The cities of Basel, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen and Nyon VD, which are directly affected by the projects, also said no.
However, according to Lukas Golder from the research institute gfs.bern, gender was more important for the result than regional differences: "Women decided today," he said on Swiss television SRF on Sunday, based on survey results from the beginning of November.
The results presented by gfs.bern in mid-November showed that only 38% of women wanted to say yes or rather yes to freeway expansion, compared to 56% of men. "The environmental issue carries more weight with women," says Golder.
"Historic success" for opponents
The vote came about because an alliance led by the Swiss Transport Club (VCS) and the Umverkehr organization brought about a referendum against the parliamentary resolution on the expansion projects. This "no" camp, which also included the Greens, the SP, the GLP and environmental and nature conservation organizations, rejoiced on Sunday.
The Greens spoke of a "historic success for the traffic turnaround". The highway expansion would have been excessive, outdated and overpriced. What was needed now was an expansion of public transport.
SP Co-President Mattea Meyer interpreted the result as a vote for more climate protection. Aargau GLP National Councillor Beat Flach said that what was needed was not more tar, but intelligent solutions.
Transport company expects even more traffic jams
The many hours of traffic jams on the freeways are a problem for the economy, said Fabio Regazzi, a member of the Ticino parliament, in an interview with Swiss radio SRF on Sunday: "I find it difficult to understand why this was not understood," said Regazzi, who as President of the Swiss Trade Association (SGV) is Co-President of the Yes Committee.
The left-green camp had probably mobilized better: "We had trouble. Only a few cantons were affected. In the other cantons, it was not so easy to convince people." Aargau SVP National Councillor Benjamin Giezendanner also interpreted the result on Swiss television as a "sign against excessive immigration". If the roads were expanded, even more people would come to Switzerland.
Transport entrepreneur Giezendanner now expects that traffic jams on the Swiss national road network will continue to increase. This means later deliveries and rising costs for the economy and trade. The federal government put the number of hours of congestion at 48,000 in 2023.
In a press release, the Association of Car Importers demanded that after the rejection of the package approach, the elimination of bottlenecks in the highway network must be tackled with individual proposals in the future.
