In a transit dispute with Austria, the German federal state of Bavaria is now planning to block roads for HGVs transiting the Brenner, report local media.
Bayerns Ministerpräsident Markus #Soeder hat an den Bund appelliert, Autobahn-Abfahrten im Inntal für den Lkw-Transitverkehr zu sperren und so etwas gegen die Folgen der #Blockabfertigung zu tun. pic.twitter.com/NGPUzPH31X
— BR24 (@BR24) July 6, 2022
“Bavarian patience is coming to an end. We need short-term measures to relieve our citizens in the border region,” said Prime Minister Markus Söder to ‘Münchner Merkur’ on Wednesday morning. “Otherwise we are at risk of gridlock on the secondary routes to Salzburg and through the Inn Valley.”
Söder is referring to the HGV block handling the Tyrolean authorities have implemented. The system usually causes long queues on the Bavarian side of the Brenner. As a result, some truck drivers seek alternative routes to avoid the waiting times on the motorway.
This is the reason why the Bavarian Prime Minister is now planning to stop the alternative traffic through the villages in the Inn Valley and in the direction of Salzburg.
“I have asked the interior and transport ministers to develop a concept for this very quickly. We will ask the federal government to enact exit bans for HGVs onto national roads on the A8 and A93,” he announced.
According to the plans, local authorities would also be empowered to ban HGVs from the local roads in case of transit.
“We will control and enforce this with the Bavarian police,” promised Söder.
Congestions are not caused by us, says Tyrol’s governor
“Transit traffic along the Brenner corridor does not originate in Tyrol or Bavaria. On the contrary, we are the victims of a failed European transport policy, which strongly favours road transport and has triggered a transit avalanche in recent years. Tyrol has been feeling the effects for many years, which is why we are defending ourselves with emergency measures, such as block handling, to avoid overloading the road infrastructure, to protect nature and people, but also to maintain road safety. However, not only the population in Tyrol is affected by the enormous transit burden, but also those along the Bavarian motorway sections,” ranted Tyrol’s governor, Günther Platter.
Banning transit traffic from roads running through towns is a practice the Tyrolean government has been applying for some time.
Upcoming block handling dates in Tyrol
- 07/11/2022, Monday
- 07/18/2022, Monday
- 07/25/2022, Monday
According to a former Tyrolean announcement, block handling won’t happen in August and September.
Summer truck bans in Austria
Truck driving summer bans are in force in Austria on Saturdays from July 2nd to August 27th. On each of those days, the bans apply between 7am and 3pm on the A12 and A13.
From 3pm, the normal weekend truck driving ban applies.
In addition to the motorways, a total of four other routes are affected:
- Loferer Straße B 178 from Lofer to Wörgl,
- Fernpassstraße B 179 from Nassereith to Biberwier,
- the Seefelder Straße B 177,
- Achenseestraße B 181.