Avalanche of traffic due to return wave 8-kilometer traffic jam before the Gotthard in Ticino

The wave of returning travelers is rolling and causing long delays. In front of the Gotthard south portal in Ticino, travelers need a lot of patience due to a long traffic jam.

In the south, the wave of return traffic has rolled in at the end of the holidays: travelers needed a lot of patience on Thursday due to a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard south portal in Ticino. The time lost was around one hour and twenty minutes.

The traffic jam in the northbound direction grew to around eight kilometers by midday. The reason for the traffic jam between Faido and Airolo was traffic congestion, as announced by the Touring Club of Switzerland (TCS) on the short message service X. There were traffic jams on several sections. Between Giornico and Airolo, there is even a nine-kilometre traffic jam.

The Federal Roads Office (Astra) had warned of "considerable traffic restrictions and increased congestion" on freeways and some main roads over the turn of the year. Return traffic is expected to last until Sunday.

Traffic jams must also be expected on main roads from the vacation regions, particularly in the Bernese Oberland, Valais and Graubünden. The Astra has appealed to travelers to stay on the freeways in the event of traffic jams in order to protect towns and villages from avoidance traffic.