By Kevin Hildebrand
As if the traffic on the Easter weekend wasn’t stressful enough… Climate activists from the Swiss group Renovate Switzerland got stuck on the roadways of the Gotthard tunnel around 10 a.m. on Good Friday morning.
This is on the Swiss A2 motorway section and is one of the most important north-south axes in the country. The result: the Easter-related traffic jam, which in some cases had already reached a length of 15 kilometers in this area, continued to grow! Driver frustration included.
As reported by the Swiss daily Blick, some of the activists held up banners, while others stuck to the highway. As a result of these actions, the tunnel had to be completely closed in both directions.
In the meantime, drivers had to allow up to two and a half hours more time for this route, which is why some of them were on edge.
Activists from “Renovate Switzerland” stuck to the road in front of the north portal of the Gotthard road tunnel Photo: dpa
Twitter videos show a woman getting out of her car and snatching a banner from the activists. In the background, a man does the same while a horn concert can be heard.
It is probably thanks to the quick action of the police that the anger of the travelers did not increase further.
At around 10.30 a.m., the emergency services had removed all the climate-control adhesive from the asphalt. As the activist group itself announced on Twitter, six members of the group between the ages of 19 and 60 were arrested.
Six people arrested by the police
The responsible cantonal police also confirmed this to the daily newspaper “Blick”: “We have provisionally arrested six people. You will be taken to the police station, questioned and reported. A report will then be sent to the public prosecutor’s office,” said an official statement.
The tunnel has been open again since 10.40 a.m., the length of the traffic jam was over 16 kilometers in the meantime. According to official information, traffic around the Gotthard tunnel has started again, current webcam recordings of the “Touring Club Switzerland” show, however, that the cars are still mostly stationary on the section of motorway in question.
The travel stress in Easter traffic on the A2 in Switzerland continues.