Traffic jam before Corpus Christi

The horror of May on the A10 had it all

May was a tough month: there were 28 kilometers of traffic jams at Whitsun, for example.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The traffic jam on the Tauernautobahn became a burden again even before the extended Corpus Christi weekend. And: the trembling before the return travelers has begun.

On Wednesday, it took up to three hours to get from Puch to the tunnel construction site in Golling on the Tauern highway. Traffic clubs reported 16 kilometers of congestion. There was also no way forward in the A10 neighboring communities. A picture that has already been seen several times in May and will be seen again in the next few days. The focus is only likely to shift to the Pongau region and to return traffic. The Whitsun vacations in Bavaria end after Corpus Christi.

I keep repeating myself: we need a toll exemption. That is our only chance. But it depends on the political will, especially in Vienna.

Thomas Freylinger, ÖVP-Bürgermeister von Kuchl

"It's been going on here since the morning, but that was to be expected," says Kuchl local leader Thomas Freylinger (ÖVP). Herbert Hartl needed more than 40 minutes to cover a short distance by car. "I let my children out of the car. They were home quicker than me," says the annoyed Kuchl businessman.

The traffic jam in the center of Golling has become a daily occurrence

(Bild: zVg)

Corpus Christi procession despite traffic jam
A security service now monitors the closure of municipal roads. "We make sure that we always keep one road to Golling and one to Hallein free for emergency vehicles," says Mayor Freylinger.

Sunday will probably be a massive traffic jam day for us. This will also be noticeable in Pfarrwerfen. We expect traffic jams from the morning onwards due to people returning from vacation.

Bernhard Weiß, ÖVP-Bürgermeister von Pfarrwerfen

Corpus Christi processions are scheduled for today in both Kuchl and Golling. "That's part of it and is tradition," says Martin Dietrich, SPÖ mayor of Golling. "It's only the weather, not the traffic jam, that determines how we walk through the market."

In Pongau, people are already looking forward to next Sunday. After the traffic jam on Mother's Day, this return day is also likely to be a burden. "It will probably be extreme on Sunday," says Bernhard Weiß (ÖVP), head of Pfarrwerfen. "I can't rule out the possibility that the alternative traffic will then once again roll along estate roads, through the driving ban and then through our town center," says Weiß.