Against traffic chaos

16 block clearances in the second half of the year in Tyrol

(Bild: EXPA Pictures. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. // EXPA Pictures. All rigths reserved.)

In the fight against the flood of transit traffic and to maintain road safety, Tyrol is once again relying on truck block clearances at the Bavarian-Austrian border near Kufstein in the second half of the year. 16 days have now been fixed. A maximum of 300 trucks per hour will then again be allowed to pass through the checkpoint at Kufstein Nord. This means that 40 so-called metering days are planned for the whole of 2024.

Truck traffic has been regularly metered at Kufstein-Nord in the morning hours for six years. "After the pilot phase, there were a total of 214 days from 2018 to 2023 on which the metering was active and the risk of disruption along the route was massively reduced. This year, too, we are protecting the population and road users from congestion along the route with truck metering so that traffic and supply security can be maintained," emphasizes LH Anton Mattle. Based on the calculations and analyses now available, there will be 16 dosing days in the second half of the year. This brings the total number of scheduled dosing days for 2024 to 40.

Tyrol sticks to emergency measures and dialog
"In 2023, over 2.4 million trucks passed through the Brenner Pass again - a burden for the population and the environment as well as a volume of heavy goods traffic that endangers traffic and supply security in Tyrol on certain days. The figures show that in order to protect the people of Tyrol, we have no choice but to maintain this tried and tested emergency measure in order to keep traffic flowing on days when traffic is critical - especially in the morning hours when the columns of trucks start moving from the parking lots at the same time," explains LR René Zumtobel. At the same time, the Regional Councillor for Transport emphasizes that due to upcoming major construction sites along the Brenner route, "the situation will probably become even worse in the future, which will lead to an increased need for metering in the coming years."

Avoid traffic disruption due to truck metering
The metering calendar is essentially about identifying those days on which increased truck peaks in the morning in combination with generally heavy vehicle traffic on the Inntal freeway and Brenner freeway can cause serious disruption. In total, around 14.4 million vehicles passed through the Schönberg main toll plaza in 2023 - an unprecedented record. "This makes it all the more important that we do everything we can to avoid disruptions in the best possible way and manage HGV traffic with foresight," emphasizes LH Mattle.

For comparison, the figures from previous years (sum of planned and unplanned dosing days)

• 2018: 27 dosing days
• 2019: 35 dosing days
• 2020: 24 dosing days
• 2021: 41 dosing days
• 2022: 43 dosing days
• 2023: 44 dosing days
• 2024: 24 dosing days in the first half of the year (plus two unscheduled dosing days so far due to snowfall), 16 planned dosing days in the second half of the year

LR Zumtobel explains: "After six years, the wealth of experience with regard to the definition of necessary dosing days, their effects and possible further critical traffic days is enormous. All these collected figures, data and facts are also incorporated into the planning, such as extraordinary obstructions caused by roadworks or particularly 'unfavorable' public holidays and window days in Austria, Germany and Italy. By combining many parameters, we can set the dosing calendar as precisely as possible. Short-term dosing, such as during extreme weather events, is still possible and also necessary depending on the situation. Of course, we have informed our neighbors in Bavaria and South Tyrol about the dosing calendar for the second half of 2024 in advance."