Accident just 24km from Sion, where injured children, families were being prepared to fly to Belgium
Deadly accident on the A9 near Fully Friday noon
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It has been a particularly deadly week on Swiss roads, and canton Valais, still reeling from the Sierre autoroute tunnel crash Tuesday that killed 28 people, had a second fatal accident on the A9 Friday, bringing to 31 the number of people who have died on Vaud and Valais roads in less than four days.
Traffic on the A9 from Martigny to Sion was stopped and emergency traffic signs were in place after a vehicle caught fire in the emergency lane of the autoroute Friday 16 March at 11:45, near the Fully-Saxon area. For reasons that are not yet clear, a van crashed into the back of a stationary truck, catching fire. Other drivers rushed to put out the fire and to free the trapped driver, unsuccessfully.
Police have not yet identified the victim.
Fully is just 24km from Sion, where police and hospital workers were busy loading children from Tuesday’s bus crash into air ambulances to fly back to Belgium and their initial route takes them directly over the autoroute where the crash occurred.
The road was closed between Martigny and Sion from 11:35 to 16:10 and from Sion to Martigny from 11:35 to 14:40.
Three children from the bus crash remain in critical condition at the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne and a motorcyclist hit by a car Thursday in Tolochenaz near Morges is also hospitalized at the Chuv, in critical condition.
A motorcyclist and his passenger died when they collided with a car in Genolier, Vaud Thursday.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 22-year-old was killed at 06:10 Sunday morning while crossing the autoroute on foot near the airport, Geneva police say. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Highway Security Brigade at 41 22 427 6450.
The young man was hit by a car coming from the Route de Meyrin. The driver, age 58, was in the lane joining the autoroute, heading towards Lausanne and level with the ICC building, when he hit the pedestrian, who was killed by the impact.
ATS news agency says the youth was taking a shortcut, but the police have not confirmed this.
The driver, in a state of shock, was helping police with their inquiry and the autoroute around the airport was closed for two hours for the investigation.
This is the second fatal accident on the autoroute around Geneva since the start of the year.
Major Swiss highway programme changes announced
Annual highway tax/sticker to jump from CHF40 to 100 by 2015
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The roadworks weren’t welcome at the time, but the switch in Morges from two to three lanes during rush hour, using emergency lanes, has been such a success at reducing traffic jams that the Federal Highway Office plans to set up the same system in Geneva and Lausanne.
The measure is part of a series of highway improvements announced by Bern Wednesday 18 January, with the focus on shifting 378km of cantonal roads to the national highway system by 2014, to better needs today that are the result of a series of urban developments over the past five decades.
Morges again has special treatment, with the office adding a Morges bypass to the list of projects to be developed sooner rather than later, to ease the growing congestion in the Crissier area. The cost: CHF220 million. Details of a likely bypass, published in 2009, call for a larger loop from Morges Ouest (west) to Ecublens.
The A1 around Morges was given three lanes in 2009, for rush hours
The package includes traffic flow improvements for Coppet-Le Vengeron, at a cost of CHF175m.
The number of kilometres driven on Swiss autoroutes has doubled since 1990. Recent studies show a 34 percent increase in 2010 in the number of hours of traffic jams, to 15,910, compared to 2009 In the next 18 years, some 400km of autoroute will regularly suffered congestion.
The Morges area switch to three lanes during rush hours has improved traffic flow, the highway department says, lowered the accident rate by 15 percent in general and 80 percent locally, and it has also brought about a 20 percent reduction in pollution next to roads: CO, CO2 and NOx emissions.
Bern and Winterthur will see their emergency lanes changed in the near future, with Geneva and Lausanne, but also several other areas including stretches along Lake Zurich, scheduled for later.
Automatic signals to reduce speed for better traffic flow to go from 85km to 400km
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 17-year-old youth led police on a wild car chase through the streets of Geneva and the autoroute around the city early Monday morning 26 December, reports Le Matin. He reportedly stole a VW Golf in Eysins Sunday night. The car was spotted by border guards near La Croix-de-Rozon at 05:40, then again by police in front of the Kempinski Hotel on the Quai du Mont Blanc 20 minutes later.
Police chased him to Chambésy along the Rue de Lausanne at speeds that reached 180kph, according to the newspaper, with the car driving on the wrong side of the road, then up past an embassy on the Rue de la Paix where a guard, suspecting a suicide bomber, shot at the car. He reportedly ran a red light and made it to Gare Cornavin train station going 100 kph before taking Montbrillant and the Rue de Servette up to the autoroute, where he attempted a u-turn despite a divider.
Once his car crashed he ran for cover on a construction site, where police, with the help of a dog, found the young man, who tested negative for alcohol, but who had consumed cocaine, according to the newspaper (police have not yet confirmed the details of the report).
A few decades ago, Sion's prisoners were incarcerated on top of a steep hill; today they are held in a prison down near the Rhone river
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The reputation for newly arrived Tunisian refugees charged by Swiss media with committing a high number of crimes will not be helped any by a high-speed chase between Sion in canton Valais and Bex in Vaud Saturday 3 December.
A prisoner, a 22-year-old Tunisian, escaped from the Sion penitentiary by climbing on the roof at 09:45 Saturday, jumping onto an attached building, then sliding down the side where he stole a car that had the keys in the ignition.
Police set up a large manhunt and alerted other cantonal police. He was spotted on the A9 autoroute near St Maurice, heading towards Vaud and a Valais patrol car gave chase. Three Valais police patrols joined Vaud ones. Chablais municipal police set up a roadblock at the Bex exit, but the prisoner crashed through it and drove at high speeds through the town of Bex, police on his tail.
He headed towards Ollon, but a police car was able to overtake him on a straight stretch of road and force him off the road. He was captured after the car he was driving overturned and landed on its roof.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Tourists who are tempted to drive across Switzerland on the faster roads without the sticker might want to reconsider. It will cost you double, with the fine jumping from CHF100 to 200. Swiss motorists beware: you have until 31 January to make sure the sticker is on your vehicles.
The cost of the sticker remains CHF40 for the 2012. It can be used starting 1 December and is valid until 31 January 2013. The old 2011 sticker is valid until 31 January 2012.
The highway department warns drivers they must remove their old stickers to make it easier to see the new one. The sticker has to be placed on the windscreen, on the inside of the car, near the edge of the windscreen; stickers not correctly placed can prompt a fine this year.
The stickers serve as a sign you’ve paid the Swiss road tax, which replaces the tolls in some neighbouring countries.
They are available at customs agencies, petrol stations, post offices, highway department offices and garages.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Weekend drivers heading in the direction of Valais from Lausanne on the A1 are being urged by Vaud police to use extra caution in the Blecherette-Venne area, with changes to the lanes Friday, as part of ongoing roadworks. Part, but not all, of the lane-marking work after resurfacing was done during the nights of Wednesday to Thursday, causing some confusion Thursday.
The right lane, shortly after the Blecherette exit is now an exit-only lane and drivers must get off the autoroute at Venne (hospitals exit) if they are in that lane: police point out that switching back to the other lanes across hatched markings is extremely dangerous and illegal; they will be watching traffic for this.
Drivers heading in the direction of Vevey and Valais must use the two left lanes.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Blame or thank the sun: hot weather in June and July caused a serious case of heatstroke, but not to people: the pricey new radar system on the A9 autoroute in Vaud, near the border with Valais, didn’t function as well as expected because of the impact of high temperatures on the box. The test period was therefore extended, to the end of August.
Next week the operational phase starts, 1 September, and with it will come speeding fines based on the mobile radar system’s readings of a driver’s average speed between Bex and Aigle.
The new ANPR system is being tested in Vaud and the A2 Arisdorf tunnel with the idea that the radars will cut the number of speeders and thus accidents, but they will also improve traffic flow. They costs CHF400,000, at least twice as much as a traditional radar.
Swiss road tax: stickers show you've paid
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s annual road tax will remain the same price, CHF40, but starting in 2012 the fine for not displaying it will double, to CHF200. Switzerland does not charge road tolls for its autoroutes, but the maintenance costs are covered in part by the road tax.
A sticker, which must be displayed correctly on all vehicles, shows that the tax for the current year is paid. The sticker must be stuck on and can’t be switched between vehicles.
The sticks is valid for all travel during a year, whether you use the autoroutes daily or just once, when passing through the country, in which case it functions more like a toll.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The 51-year-old Frenchman driving the wrong way on the autoroute who had a head-on crash on the A1 between Yverdon and Lausanne at 06:00, 10 August had an alcohol level of 1.89 (legal limit: 0.5), canton Vaud police say. He was interviewed in the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries before being transferred to a Vaud prison. Another Frenchman, who was in the passing lane, was killed in the accident.
SION, SWITZERLAND – Police in canton Valais caught two drivers going ovre 180kph on the same stretch of road, heading from Sion to Sierre, one Friday and one Monday. Both drivers had their licenses confiscated and they face steep fines.
Friday 12 August at 21:25 a 27-year-old Swiss man was clocked at 189kph near Granges, on the A9 autoroute. Monday at 17:00 a 21-year-old Serb man was clocked driving 182kph in the same place on the A9, also heading for Sierre. The two live in the area.
The speed limit is 120kph in the area, shortly before the entrance to Sierre, where the limit drops to 100kph. A man was filmed driving 224kph on the same bit of road 9 June; police were able to identify him a few days later.
During the day six lanes remain open, with reduced speeds; at night only three lanes in total are open, one in the direction of Vevey and two in the direction of Geneva
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The re-blacktopping of the A9 autoroute between Lausanne and Vevey, a 20-odd kilometre stretch, is being done at night but police say the lack of marking and the number of heavy work vehicles parked on the side of the road during the day is behind the 60 kph speed limit for several areas. And starting Monday 15 August they will be enforcing that limit between the St Croix junction and Vennes, 7.7km in the direction of Vevey, with random speed checks.
Some 90,000 vehicles use the road daily.
The roadworks and slower limit will be in force until November. Police say they will continue their speed checks until then. The construction work began 19 May, with speed reduced initially to 80 kph. In the first 12 weeks police took away 102 drivers licenses for speeding (final decision from the cantonal highway department yet to be made) between Lausanne and Villeneuve. Of the 215,662 vehicles checked, 3,929 drivers, or 1.82 percent, were reported for speeding, during the 32 radar sessions run by the police.
Speed limits enforced for foreign cars as well as Swiss
Two drivers were caught going 140 kph, on 9 June and 21 July, in 80 kph zones.
Swiss speeding fines range from CHF20 to 260 for going 5 to 25 kph over the limit; after that they jump considerably and the driver risks losing his or her license plus prison time for very high speeds.
Swiss police and those from several other European countries, including France and Germany, have a data swap programme covering drivers licenses and fines, through a system called Eucaris.
Road is 41 years old, has 90,000 cars a day
The A9 between St Croix and Vennes was built in 1970, then enlarged to six lanes between 1995 and 1997. The current construction work is reinforcing the layer underneath the road surface as well as resurfacing.
Details, A9 St Croix-Vennes roadworks
Camel hitched to Swiss A9 autoroute bar, not an everyday sight
SION, SWITZERLAND – Drivers who had started sampling the goods at the Valais wineries Open day Friday 3 June might have wondered about the strength of the wine if they were on the A9 autoroute, where a camel and two horses were hitched to the safety bar on the median strip. Don’t worry, if you were one of those drivers: it was the real thing.
A 55-year-old Valais woman, driving a car and trailer from Martigny towards St Maurice at 12:30 Friday 3 June lost control of her vehicle and the trailer tipped over. Luckily, none of the occupants were injured, but police shunted traffic through the emergency lane while the passengers, two horses and a camel, were tied to the bar for the time it took to sort out the trailer and car.
Police from Valais and Vaud joined forces, with the accident happening near the border between the two.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The driver of a bus returning a group of 12- to 25-year-olds from a day at Europapark in Rust, Germany is in critical condition after the bus inexplicably crashed on its return trip. Fifteen of the young people suffered minor injuries after the bus veered off the A5 autoroute near Heitersheim, rolling 20 metres into the forest before stopping. Details, TSR, Fr
Ed. note: GenevaLunch, like most businesses in Switzerland, is taking a four-day weekend. Our news today is brief headline stories.
The A9 autoroute heading towards Valais suddenly opens up after Villeneuve, wide and flat and straight and - oops, now there are radars from Aigle to Bex, so watch that gas pedal!
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Some motorists’ favourite A9 autoroute spot for speeding up has just become more treacherous, in terms of being caught, thanks to the installation of new radars.
Two boxes appeared Friday on the stretch of road between Aigle and Bex, in canton Vaud just before Valais, heading in the direction of Valais. The radars went into effect Monday morning 30 May. They don’t flash a driver for speeding at a fixed point but take the average speed over the stretch.
Speeders will be flashed, but no fines handed out on the basis of what the radar clocks, for the first month, to allow the system to be tested.
The ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) radars have proven effective in other countries, says the Federal Highway Department. They improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of speeders, and in some countries, the number of fatalities and serious accidents have been reduced by half.
The 8-km radar intalled this week is a portable system, but by 2012 a fixed system will be in place.
Switzerland’s first ANPR radars were set up in the A2′s Arisdorf tunnel stretch of road near Basel in January 2011.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Police in cantons Vaud and Valais were kept busy Monday, with a French driver speeding at 145kph on the Saint Bernard pass road and an ambulance catching fire on the A9 autoroute, forcing its closure in both directions between 10:00 and noon.
Valais police say they stopped the 33-year-old driver at 04:40 Monday morning, driving from Sembrancher in the direction of Martigny, on the Route du Saint Bernard. He was going 145kph in an 80kph zone. The man lives in the region; his license was confiscated and he was reported to the Swiss highway authority as well as to the public prosecutor. A crash nearby, between Bovernier and Sembrancher, took the life of a 17-year-old last week and injured two others.
Ambulance flames caused by lifesaving oxygen tank
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nineteen drivers were hauled in by Fribourg police and 14 of their souped-up cars were seized in an operation that came to light in part thanks to YouTube videos the young men made of their exploits. The drivers, aged 18 to 27, raced regularly on stretches of autoroute between Fribourg and Bulle, in particular on the Givisiez semi-autoroute and the A12.
Police noticed, starting in early 2010, that several drivers were using Givisiez and A12 stretches as racetracks, driving at speeds of up to 190 kph.
They made their first arrest 28 July 2010. The 28-year-old driver admitted to taking part in races and to making videos posted on YouTube where he recorded his speeds. He had been arrested in March 2010 when he was involved in an accident on the A12, driving 190 kph, which resulted in damages but no injuries.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Annual stickers for Swiss autoroutes go on sale Wednesday 1 December for CHF40. The 2011 sticker is valid from 1 December 2010 to 31 January 2012.
Current 2010 stickers are valid until 31 January 2011.
The new stickers have a silver background with the year in light blue on one side and white on the other. The old sticker must be removed and the new one placed on the inside of the windscreen, following the instructions that come with the sticker.
Motorbikes should have the sticker on the windscreen, but if the bike doesn’t have one it should be placed on another part of the bike that is not an easily interchangeable part, according to customs officials. Some bikers put it under the saddle.
They are sold by garages, post offices, car dealers and at customs posts.
Switzerland has an annual sticker in place of road tolls, to finance the autoroute system. The fine for travelling without a sticker is CHF100.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – They don’t make autoroutes like they used to, and for sustainability fans, this is a good thing. The new 11 km stretch of four-lane divided highway in Weinland, the A4, was opened at noon Friday 22 October between Schaffhausen and Winterthur, near Zurich. It has two underpasses and an overpass for local fauna to get them safely across the road.
The most startling difference for drivers is that the road is 8 metres narrower than older, more familiar autoroutes. There are no emergency lanes, but pullover emergency stopping places have been created. Plants have been carefully selected and trees planted with a view to encouraging wildlife to stay in the area. And rainwater from the road will be collected by eight special installations that will treat them and return the water to nearby streams that have been left in their wild state.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Heavy rain Saturday afternoon was behind three serious accidents that sent a total of 9 people to area hospitals, all but two with serious injuries. The accidents were all the result of drivers losing control of their cars, with one in Aigle, another on the A9 near Montreux and the other on the A9 near Yverdon. In each case the drivers’ cars spun on the wet roads. The two autoroute accidents caused major traffic jams.
In other road accidents, Vaud police say a French woman in her early 30s who works in Morges turned herself in after they issued an appeal to the hit and run driver who caused an accident Thursday 14 October on the A1 between Morges and Ecublens. 20 Minutes shows the video of the accident.
Vaud police seek witnesses to hit-and-run in St Prex
Aigle, canton Vaud (GenevaLunch) – Aigle was the scene of two serious but unrelated traffic accidents over the weekend, one a train crash and the other an autoroute accident where a drunk driver hit two road workers who are both in critical condition at the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne.
The train crash occurred late Friday afternoon 27 August, when two TPC trains collided about 800 metres south of the Plambuit station between Le Sépey and Aigle. An elderly woman was seriously injured and five others suffered lighter injuries. All had to be taken to hospital by helicopter due to the steepness of the rail line in the area. Police are investigating the cause of the accidents. The trains did not derail but the cars suffered heavy damage.
Alcohol, speed factors in autoroute accident
Two cantonal road workers who were cleaning up the remains of an accident were critically injured on the A9 autoroute Friday at 21:20 between Aigle and St Triphon (heading in the direction of Valais). Police were directing traffic from an earlier accident, at 20:30, with one of the cars involved parked in the emergency lane. A driver in his 30s, from Valais, did not slow down and suddenly swerved to the right, hitting the parked car. It was pushed into the two road workers, who were thrown 20 metres into the parked police car. The driver, who had been drinking, is in police custody.
Three-year-old in serious condition, truck driver sought
Vaud police are asking for help from the public in identifying a truck driver who hit a three-year-old girl last Tuesday, 24 August, on the Jura side of the Penguey roundabout, at 10:25. She was with her grandparents and her baby brother, who was in a stroller, crossing the roundabout. The child was behind her grandmother who turned around to see the child thrown by the truck. Police are looking for a blue and orange truck: telephone +41 21 557 9021 or the nearest police station with information. The grandmother rushed the child to the Morges hospital without contacting emergency services or the police. The girl is in serious condition with multiple fractures. She was later transferred to the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne.
Truck veers off A9 near Martigny, car flips off A1 in rush hour near Rolle
Spectacular police chase for thieves of BMW, 40 cigarette cartons on A9
Rainbow next to the A9: police caution that drivers need to remember to slow down when dry weather is followed by showers
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “Drivers need to remember to leave more distance and to reduce their speed when the roads are wet,” cautions Vaud police spokesman Philippe Jaten, in the wake of a series of accidents in the region this week. “And in particular to make sure their seat belts are fastened,” he adds. Jaten says it is difficult to say, looking at a short time, if the number of accidents is higher, but “we’ve seen some spectacular ones.”
Three serious accidents occurred in 36 hours on the A9, in Vaud and Valais, the most recent at 14:30 Tuesday at Charrat near Martigny. A truck veered off the road for unknown reasons, as the driver headed from Sion to Martigny. He had to be cut from his vehicle and was taken to hospital in Sion. Traffic was reduced to two lanes after the accident.
Slow down, leave space on rainy roads
Vaud’s rain-pelted roads this morning likely played a role in a one-car accident on the A1 autoroute at rush hour, between Aubonne and Rolle, heading towards Geneva.
A9 early morning death in Valais, A9 later in Vaud
The truck driver from the early morning A9 accident was taken to Sion hospital
Update 15 June Sion / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – One person died and another was injured shortly after 04:00 Monday morning when a car and a truck collided on the A9 autoroute near the town of Vernayaz. The truck was heading from St Maurice towards Martigny when the collision occurred, for unknown reasons, and the driver of the car was thrown from his vehicle and killed immediately. The truck driver was injured and was flown to the Sion hospital.
The car caught fire and was totally destroyed. Police have not yet identified the dead man and are seeking anyone who can provide information about the accident. In particular, they are trying to determine if the car was stopped on the shoulder of the road and if so, why. Tel: +41 27 326 5656
The driver of the car has not yet been identified, say Valais police
The A9 was closed in the direction of St Maurice to Sion for part of the morning, with enormous tailbacks once it opened.
Later in the day, on the canton Vaud stretch of the A9 between Aigle and St Triphon, a driver lost control of his car, heading in the direction of St Triphon, at 18:00, for reasons not yet clear. The car hit the central divider, then flipped over several times. The driver was thrown from the car and was unconscious when emergency teams arrived. He died at the scene of the accident.
The accidents bring to four the number of deaths on Valais and Vaud autoroutes in just three days. A couple from Ontario, Canada died Saturday 12 June when their tour bus overturned in the Goms Valley. Another 28 persons were injured in the accident.
4,500 fines, 137 licenses lifted during May on Lausanne-Yverdon stretch
Flat roads,open fields: drivers like to speed on the Yverdon-Lausanne A1 (photo, Liam Bates on flickr)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The repairs on the Lausanne-Yverdon stretch of the A1 autoroute have prompted police to lower the speed limit to 80 kph to protect road workers, but motorists have not received the message, it appears. P0lice took away driver’s licenses from 137 people during May, for being well over the speed limit, and they fined another 4,500, out of the 73,000 clocked on the road. The worst offender was driving 148 kph.
Large panels reminding drivers to slow down are being posted, with the number of fines and license removals listed to drive home the message.
Ed. note: Vaud police are taking part in a 2010 national campaign to get drivers to slow down, called Slow Down, Take it Easy. Try their online interactive test to see how long it takes to come to a stop, starting from different speeds, with varying road conditions.
Update 10:05 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The A1 autoroute, in the direction of Geneva, is closed between Rolle and Gland due to an accident involving a large truck. Officials say the road will remain closed until at least 11:30 and traffic, which is badly backed up, is being diverted to the N1 (lake road).
A1 heading into Lausanne, from Morges, three lanes as a temporary measure, January 2010
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The problem of congested roads in regions where some of Switzerland’s worst traffic jams occur inched closer to a solution Friday, when a commission of the Swiss upper house of Parliament agreed to modify regulations governing how certain national road funds are spent.
The commission had asked for a report on how cantons would help fund projects in congested road areas, such as the stretch of A1 autoroute between Versoix and Geneva, and the A1/A9 roads around Lausanne, which routinely have heavy traffic buildups. The problems are expected to worsen in the next 10 years, with the Lake Geneva region one of the fastest growing in Switzerland.
A1, Morges, at dusk Monday 18 January
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first week of the A1 autoroute’s new six-lane stretch being open has gone smoothly, with no incidents or accidents, reports the Swiss highway department. Signals opening a third lane in each direction between Morges and Lausanne light up automatically once there are more than 36 cars per kilometre. The system became operational Monday 18 January, but only in the afternoon. It will be used around the clock starting Monday 25 January.
Geneva to Lausanne traffic slowed significantly Wednesday afternoon, evening
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The A1 autoroute from Geneva to Lausanne came close to a standstill late Wednesday afternoon thanks to urgent repairs on the Pont de l’Asse bridge, before Nyon. The joints on the bridge were repaired urgently some days ago, and the temporary measure was expected to last until a more permanent solution, scheduled for the end of January. The temporary patch did not hold, however, and the Tribune de Geneve quotes a spokesperson for the federal roads office as saying they will use fast-drying glue and a plate to cover the problem area.
Roadworks will last 40 days on A1
A1 at dusk, rush hour 18 January and three lanes open, near Morges
A1 Morges exit, dusk 18 January, 3 lanes into 2
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rush hour Monday evening on the A1 autoroute between Morges and Lausanne was a rare sight: traffic flowed, all three lanes of it in each direction. The extra new lanes, which function only when traffic demands it, were open, with new signage working, responding to real time traffic flow.
Several months of roadworks ended in December but the new system became operational early Monday and by day’s end traffic was flowing more smoothly than it has in years, at 18:00.
Traffic jams a thing of the past, of course
Lausanne, Switzerland (Genevalunch) – The motorway roadworks that have last several months, between Morges and Ecublens on the A1 autoroute, are nearing completion. The Federal Roads Office (Fedro) says that the third lane (bande d’arrêt d’urgence - emergency lane) will be activated after 16:00 for afternoon rush hour traffic from Monday 18 January onwards. It will be activated permanently from 25 January onwards.
A1 to be partially closed Sunday 17 January
Fedro advises that Lausanne-bound lanes will be closed between Morges and Ecublens Sunday 17 January from 20:00 to 05:00 the following morning. The Geneva-bound lanes will be closed on the same stretch from 23:00 to 05:00.
