Over the weekend, the Bavarian Prime Minister, Markus Söder, and the Minister of Transport, Christian Bernreiter, ordered roads to be blocked to HGVs transiting the Brenner.
It was just two weeks ago when Söder announced the plan, which aims to reduce HGV traffic in the Bavarian towns around the highway caused by truck drivers avoiding the Tyrolean blockade.
As the several-kilometres-long congestion proved on Monday, this restriction is not a solution to the problem.
According to local media reports, the HGV congestion on the A12 motorway was already more than 10km-long by 7 am on Monday morning, partly because of a truck accident on the joining A39 road. Cars were allowed to exit the motorway, but trucks over 7.5 tons in transit traffic had to stay on the autobahn.
The other reason for the congestion was the HGV block handling – a traffic management system the Tyrolean authorities apply on days when traffic is expected to be very high. When the measure is applied, only a certain number of trucks are allowed to enter the motorway hourly. The remainder of the vehicles need to wait for the next hour. On Monday morning this number was 100.
Due to the newly introduced Bavarian measure, almost all exits on the A8 motorway in the region were closed to HGVs to prevent alternative traffic via the villages.
Police officers have been stationed at all the affected exits to enforce the measure. Fines have not yet been imposed, according to local news site Br24. This is not due to pure kindness, but rather because Bavaria still hasn’t ordered the roadblocks, it is just asking drivers not to use those routes, explains German transportation portal Verkehrsrundschau.
“So far we have not come to a solution,” said transport minister Bernreiter. “It is requested that the trucks do not leave the motorway – but it is not ordered.”
Therefore, police officers are keeping an eye on HGV traffic, and warn drivers who ignore the ban and escort them back onto the motorway.
According to the portal, drivers should expect a fine of 100 euros once the ban is officially in place.