From Friday at 11 a.m.

“Safety guaranteed”: A9 passable again

Asfinag is not yet able to quantify the costs of the renovation work.

(Bild: Asfinag)

The A9 was also badly affected by the devastating storms two weeks ago. The repair work is now coming to an end and the Pyhrnautobahn will be reopened to traffic from 11 a.m. on Friday.

Shortly after the Übelbach junction, near the Gleinalm tunnel, an avalanche of mud and debris up to 1.5 meters high came down after persistent rainfall on 8 June and completely displaced the southbound carriageway.

Necessary detour
The section was immediately closed for safety reasons and traffic has since been routed in both directions from St. Michael and Deutschfeistritz via the S6 (Semmering Expressway) and the S35 (Bruck Expressway).

The good news came on Thursday: "Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Asfinag, external experts and construction companies - a total of more than 50 people were working on site to clear and secure the road - the green light has been given for traffic again from 11 a.m. on June 21," according to a press release from road maintenance company Asfinag.

It will take until the end of August for the renovation work to be fully completed

(Bild: Asfinag)

Safety work continues
A good 4,000 working hours have had to be invested so far, with many more to come: "A total of 20 points were damaged on the affected section. The restoration measures range from removing several cubic meters of earth from the roadway to cleaning out gullies and restoring wildlife protection fences," explains Asfinag regional manager Roland Sticker in an interview with the "Krone".

The final restoration of the slopes, some of which had started to slide far away from the highway, will take several more weeks. The work is not expected to be completed until the end of August. However, Sticker emphasizes: "Safety is already guaranteed!"

80 km/h restriction
In the northbound direction/Voralpenkreuz, the route will be available without restrictions from Friday. In the southbound direction/Spielfeld, space must be kept free over a length of around five kilometers for the ongoing slope renovations. Nevertheless, two lanes will be available as in normal operation. However, these are somewhat narrower, which is why a speed limit of 80 km/h is necessary.

tNo "pass" extension
Around 25,000 vehicles pass through the affected section of road every day. Asfinag has no good news for all those who were hoping that their tunnel pass would be extended by the relevant days: The route toll will remain valid for 365 days from the date of issue.