Few ventured out early Wednesday morning (Saint Prex, canton Vaud)
An aptly named street Wednesday morning
Update 09:30 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The overnight snowfall throughout the Lake Geneva region is causing major traffic disruptions Wednesday 1 December. Cointrin Airport in Geneva is closed until at least 14:00 and travellers are being advised to check with their airlines.
The TPG in Geneva decided early in the morning not to run any of its buses and trams until further notice. The Tribune de Geneve is providing regular updates on the city’s public transport situation, as is RSR, which says some trams are running in the city, at 08:00.
Geneva, with 20 cm of fresh snow overnight, and more falling, has been the hardest hit area, according to MeteoSwiss reports.
Roads are considered moderately dangerous, with icy conditions, from Geneva to Lausanne and up the hillsides to the Jura. Road conditions in Valais are good, with less fresh snow than around the lake.
Everyone's new best friend, on a topsy-turvy snowy morning (Saint Prex, canton Vaud)
Lausanne’s public transport is running, with relatively minor delays, after 10 cm of snow fell overnight.
The CFF Swiss train system is operating, but with some delays: details for delayed trains and a map are updated frequently. Passengers were stranded Tuesday evening along the Lausanne-Geneva line when the Intercity train had a technical problem from about 18:00-20:00, but the problem was not weather-related.
The Swiss highway department’s truck info road updates and TCS (Touring Club Suisse) provide details of congestion and closed roads, with traffic in the Lausanne-Geneva area slow Wednesday morning, but with fewer people than usual on the road before 08:00, reports one commuter.
Schools are open in Geneva and neighbouring France, but with limited public transport, some children will not be making it to school.
Head of a tiger (Panthera tigris), India (photo: ©2010 Vivek R Sinh, WWF-Canon)
(video, nearly extinct Siberian tiger) Gland, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The WWF, based in Gland, near Geneva, says the world’s endangered tigers remain under pressure, with India, China and Nepal showing the worst poaching problems. In the past century the number of tigers worldwide has fallen from an estimated 100,000 to just 3,200.
The WWF is a member of Traffic (wildlife trade monitoring network), whose “Reduced to Skin and Bones” report released 9 November shows that “from January 2000 to April 2010, parts of between 1,069 and 1,220 tigers were seized in 11 of the 13 tiger range countries—or an average of 104 to 119 animals per year.”
The report is published ahead of a meeting at the end of November of heads of government of tiger range countries to sign the Global Tiger Recovery Programme, a plan that aims to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.
The programme aims to push harder to reduce poaching and illegal trade, but also to reduce the demand for tiger parts.
Tigers are coveted for their use in traditional medicines, decoration, and as good luck charms.
Expect delays says Swisscom
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swisscom mobile customers who use the Internet may experience “impaired service” in the next few hours, says the company. Its mobile data network was interrupted for several hours Monday, starting at 07:30 when a fault occurred on Swisscom’s GPRS network while maintenance work was being done.
About half of the customers had service again by 14:00, with the rest functioning by 17:30. The company noted that the mobile Internet service had to be restarted during the morning, causing interruptions in mobile data traffic.
On a normal day, Swisscom notes, several hundred thousand customers make use of mobile Internet services. The resumption of traffic meant that “an increase in data traffic is expected over the next few hours,” it said Monday evening, “which could lead to impaired service.
“The disturbance affected all mobile services requiring an Internet connection, from surfing the Internet to sending and receiving MMS messages and e-mails. Telephone services via the mobile network, the sending and receiving of SMS messages and connections to the fixed network (telephony, Internet, Swisscom TV) were not affected.
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Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The lake road between Lausanne and La Tour-de-Peilz will be closed to traffic (residents excepted) Sunday from 07:30 to approximately 17:00. More than 10,000 runners are registered for the Lausanne Marathon and the road will re-open depending on when the runners finish.
The marathon itself is just one of several events that include a half-marathon and walking races.
Lausanne is the departure point but the lakefront down to La Tour-de-Peilz will be given over to the runners and police warn anyone driving in the area to use caution.
Traffic then security are also issues, with security a growing concern
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Housing is the main worry for expatriates and diplomats in Geneva, a poll run jointly by Geneva police and the Swiss Mission to the United Nations.
More than half of the 1,098 persons questioned said housing was their biggest concern, while traffic problems were listed by 16.3 percent and lack of security by 13.6 percent.
The poll included 318 members of the diplomatic corps, 581 international organization employees and 235 members of staff at multinational companies, with 66 percent of them having lived in Geneva for at least two years. Three-quarters were from Europe
A negative point in the survey was the perception on the part of the foreigners that security is getting worse in the city, with 80 percent of those questioned saying it is.
The report on the poll was presented at an annual meeting on human rights hosted by Geneva for NGOs (non-governmental organizations). This year’s theme was security: how to provide it while respecting human rights.
The report also showed that Geneva nevertheless is viewed well by foreigners living there, with 92 percent saying they would recommend it to their friends and 77.3 percent saying the quality of life is good.
The police are generally viewed positively (60 percent), but around the Cornavin train station in Geneva and the Paquis district 61 percent believe the police are too passive.
Geneva, the authors note, is given a relatively good score when compared to the countries where they previously resided, with seven of them doing better than Geneva on a scale of 10:
- Singapore, 9.1 /10, given the top rating
- Geneva, 7.6
- USA, 6.5
- Great Britain, 5.9
- Brazil, 5.7
- South Africa, 2.6.
Ikea’s grand opening, Geneva-Vernier store 15 September, follows years of wrangling
Ikea Vernier Wednesday morning, before the crowds hit the grand opening
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The grand opening breakfast Wednesday morning 15 September at Ikea in Vernier was just the right kind: copious, with a wide selection of choices. Copious because it accompanied, Swiss-style, numerous speakers who all started by naming and thanking individually each dignitary present.
A wide selection because this is, after all, Ikea. And if the blue and yellow everywhere, including of course Ambassador Per Thoeresson’s tie, wasn’t a clue that Ikea is Swedish at heart, the glass of Schnapps at 07:00, at the end of breakfast, was a giveaway.
Sweden's ambassador to Switzerland, Per Thoeresson
“For me, like any Swede, Ikea represents Swedish values, Swedish culture,” Thoeresson told several hundred early morning breakfast guests, who thanked Sweden’s “other ambassador”, the home furnishings giant which has become an institution for foreigners in Switzerland. “It’s no accident that Switzerland was chosen as the first location in Europe outside Sweden. Switzerland is in the middle of Europe, Sweden and Switzerland share many values—including a sense of design, of functionality.” He added that the two countries “have become a little closer” thanks to Ikea.
It wasn’t always clear this would be the case.
This is the eighth Ikea store in Switzerland, but the 10-year battle to open it prompted one Geneva politician to say over breakfast that “Ikea in Geneva at one point meant ‘obstruction’ but today it’s a good example of working together.” The commune of Vernier repeatedly refused to approve the project, saying it needed guarantees the store wasn’t giving: a major concern was the potential for traffic problems. Protestors complained about future pollution and the canton of Geneva and Vernier commune battled over the number of exits from the store.
Burying the hatchet: what Ikea will bring Vernier, Geneva
The commune finally accepted the project in October 2008, after Ikea agreed to numerous conditions, which increased the bill considerably, and construction moved ahead. Final cost: CHF109.4 million, when the attic area is included.
Opening day shows a store that had 7,000 applications for 300 jobs. Eighty percent of those hired are from canton Geneva and 40 percent from Vernier, making Ikea a key employer in the canton with Switzerland’s highest unemployment rate.
The 31,000m2 (attic included) store has a parking lot with 850 places, but it has made a serious effort to discourage shoppers’ use of private cars: it’s easy to reach using bicycle lanes and public transport: buses 6, 19, 23, 28, 57, Y and trams 14 and 16, train Regio R from Cornavin. If you’re buying furniture you can’t put on the bus, you have two relatively green options: home delivery and Mobilité natural gas rental vehicles.
Ikea is expected to bring the commune tax revenues of up to CHF800,000.
Ikea is Ikea is Ikea, but this is Geneva, where living space is at a premium
Inside the store, everything is familiar to anyone who has visited Ikea elsewhere. It is slightly smaller than the store in Aubonne and the line of merchandise is essentially the same, but the Vernier store caters to a slightly different population. “People in Geneva have a bit more money, but smaller living spaces,” one employee told visitors. The kitchen selection is larger and there are numerous clearly marked sections for people with apartments of 25, 35 or 50 square metres: small spaces.
The rare opportunity to see an Ikea store without customers charmed breakfast guests, but at 09:00 as the grand opening drew near the most impressive sight was scores of employees racing to finish shelves-stocking before the doors opened. And only one protestor showed up.
Ikea Vernier web site, with hours
TSR timeline of Ikea political battle, Vernier-Geneva
Ed. note: GenevaLunch will publish a photo gallery of the new store before it opened, late Wednesday. Watch for the update here!
Map of the changes to Cornavin station, to improve pedestrian traffic flow
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A six-year-old girl was hit by a tram in front of Geneva’s main station late Saturday and, according to the Tribune de Geneve, she remains in serious condition at the hospital. Details of the accident, under investigation, are sketchy, but the Geneva newspaper raises the question of safety in front of the station, where in 2008 the city created a 20-kph-zone with pedestrians given priority.
The area is crisscrossed steadily with tram, bus, taxi, bicycle and pedestrian traffic, raising public complaints about too many distractions for people crossing the area.
Major renovations at the station, part of which are designed to improve the flow of pedestrian traffic inside but also around the station, are an additional distraction.
The growing number of bicycle riders in the city, who often ignore traffic rules, has been cited by the TPG on a number of occasions as a problem for tram drivers. The Tribune reports that since the start of 2010 Geneva has had seven tram-bicycle collision, one of them fatal to the bike rider, and 11 tram-pedestrian accidents.
You guessed it: the high-profile presentation in Moscow of a new book, Moscow: Traffic Problems of a Megalopolis, was delayed 90 minutes by traffic, or rather by the late arrival of a special guest. The guest was former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the book was written by his son Kichiro Hatoyama, a visiting lecturer at Moscow State University’s Graduate School of Business Administration, who suggests that Muscovites take lessons from Japan in how to better manage their clogged road system. The father was caught in heavy traffic, but the mayor of Moscow sent a police escort to his rescue, making him only 90 minutes late. Police escorts, complain Moscow motorists, are part of the problem, according to the Moscow Times, which reported the story.
Night work on A1
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Continuing roadworks on the A1 between Morges and Ecublens, near Lausanne, will cause disruptions 25-31 July, while traffic signal systems are reinstalled.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane each direction during the nights of Sunday and Monday, with no traffic problems foreseen.
The highway will also be down to one lane each direction Monday afternoon and evening from 14:00-20:00, with delays of 10-15 minutes expected, according to the federal highway department.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The old A1 autoroute bottleneck around Lausanne, between Morges and Ecublens, is back for 11 days. Road repairs are reducing traffic to two lanes in each direction, limited to 80 kph, starting Monday 5 July. The roadworks are expected to cause 15-20 minute delays in either direction, according to the highway department.
Monday morning’s traffic lived up to expectations, with slow-moving traffic.
Runners on the Mont-Blanc bridge in 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva is gearing up for its annual marathon but this year’s competition is unlike any of its previous versions. For starters, three more courses have been added, two for children and one for women only. In addition, participants will have another incentive for running: raising funds for Unicef’s water projects.
Benjamin Chandelier, director of the Geneva marathon, said to GenevaLunch that the partnership with Unicef, which begins this year, will help the intergovernmental organization raise funds to buy water pumps for communities-in-need around the world.
“The organizing committee has decided to transfer 5 percent of the registration fees to Unicef, plus the whole amount of the registration fees for the children’s races,” he says.
In turn, Unicef will help the marathon by “setting up a progressive and ambitious development plan, and by promoting Geneva and its marathon in bordering countries.”
Fun to drive to the beach, but how quiet is it? Anti-noise day: 28 April
Date correction, 18:50 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - More than half of all traffic in Switzerland is due to people traveling for leisure purposes – more than commuter traffic, according to the federal government. And it is noisy – too noisy.
Bern is marking Anti-noise day Wednesday 28 April by pledging to reinforce measures against noise created by traffic, whether on roads, rail or near airports, with the idea that we’re all heading off to relax, but some of us can’t because of the noise the rest of us make.
Zurich International Airport, Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Passenger traffic at Zurich Airport was up 9.7 percent in March over the same period a year earlier, the airport announced late Wednesday. Local traffic was up 10.1 percent and transit traffic rose by 9 percent. In total, the airport serviced 1.82 million passengers.
The occupancy rate, a key figure for airlines’ profitability, rose by 4.4 percent to 71.6 percent overall.
Figures for the first three months of the year show travel rebounding, with passengers up by 8.4 percent and the movements of planes up 2.8 percent.
Weather forecast, Jura and Alps reports, Easter weekend traffic information
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Snowline in Valais, near Leukebad
Fresh snow above Aminona, Valais 31 March 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The long Easter weekend is starting and school holidays in Switzerland are well underway: expect traffic jams on the road but a good mix of vacation options once you’re off the road.
Weather forecast
Highs ranging from 9-11C in the Lake Geneva region this weekend, with some rain Saturday, sunshine alternating with overcast skies Sunday. The weather should become more springlike by Tuesday, with temperatures reaching 16C and sunshine. (MeteoSwiss)
Road traffic forecast
Update 12:00 Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The A1 autoroute into Geneva had very heavy traffic Thursday morning, due to a combination of the Geneva Motor Show (Nyon to Geneva tailback) and an accident between Gland and Nyon which blocked the hard shoulder. Traffic was back to normal by noon.
For updates, check the federal truck alerts site, updated every few minutes.
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).
SCNF has special site, phone line for French trains affected
Bern, Switzerland and Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - Rail traffic between France and Belgium has stopped and rail authorities say the interruption could last all day Monday 15 February, following a violent head-on collision of two trains south of Brussels. The Eurostar and Thalys are particularly affected.
The accident killed more than 20 people and there appear to be many serious injuries, but authorities have not yet provided official figures. The crash occurred around 08:30 Monday morning during rush hour, with the two trains were filled with commuters.
Heading towards Lausanne, three lanes on the A1 autoroute, January 2010
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss national highway department says that the first month of a Swiss experiment near Lausanne has been successful. Eight months of road works led to the opening in mid-January of emergency lanes to traffic at peak times on the A1 autoroute between Morges and Lausanne. The accident rate in 2009 on the stretch of road was on average one a week, further clogging the road, used by 90,000 drivers a day. There was only one accident during the first month of the new system, one-quarter of the previous rate.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Hotel Terminus across from the Cornavin main train station in Geneva caught fire at 03:00 Monday and 50 firefighters were called to the scene. Monday morning traffic in the area has been rerouted, with only one lane open, causing serious traffic jams in the area. Public transport is working normally, say police.
Some 90 residents of the hotel were evacuated and three were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation, but there were no serious injuries. The cause of the fire, which appears to have started in a technical services room.
Dusk at 1,100 metres in Valais, Switzerland Friday: snow falling, icy roads, few cars
Snow falling steadily, but snowplows quickly clear even secondary Swiss mountain roads.
Snowfall, dusk, Swiss Alps 20 January
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Update 19:20 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Weather forecasters in the Lake Geneva region had it right: snow began to fall Friday afternoon on the plain in the Lake Geneva region and more heavily in the mountains.
Given the cold weather and cold ground, the snow is likely to accumulate faster than usual, they said, suggesting traffic problems around rush hour Friday.
They had that right as well, with icy roads throughout the region by 16:00.
Cars were slipping on the snow-covered icy roads even at low altitudes and the only happy cars above 800 metres were those with chains or four-wheel drive vehicles.
Salt supplies are running low in most cantons, so plows will be out, but some back roads may not be de-iced as quickly as usual.
The snowfall is good news for resort areas, though, with good accumulations by late afternoon Friday, even along the Rhone, at the base of roads leading up to Vaud, Bern and Valais resorts.
Switzerland winter holidays traffic jam areas, times
Jura in its winter glory
Jura snow! see additional photos with Jura report, below
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The main news this weekend: expect snow! That sounds good, but it promises to come with something less welcome, the potential for major traffic problems. The Swiss federal government has issued its annual end-January winter holidays traffic predictions, so be prepared. Peak times are Saturdays 08:00-15:00 heading south and Saturdays 10:00-16:00 plus Sundays 15:00-20:00 heading north.
Expect heavy traffic and slowdowns in these areas
Heading south
- A1 Sankt Margrethen – Genève: between Zurich and Berne
- A2 Basel – Chiasso: customs, Bâle/Weil am Rhein, between the Belchen tunnel and the interchange at Haerkingen, north entrance to the St Gothard tunnel
- A3 Basel – Zurich: customs, Basel/Saint-Louis interchange, la Wiese
- A6/A8 Berne – Interlaken: Thoune-Interlaken
- A9 Lausanne – Sion: Lausanne-Vevey
- A13 Sargans – Bellinzone: Sarganserland-Landquart, between Chur/Coire-Sud and Reichenau, north entrance to San Bernardino tunnel
- contournements/ bypasses around Bern (A1/A6), Lausanne (A1/A9) and Zurich (A1/A3)
Heading north
- A1 Genève – Sankt Margrethen: Berne-Zurich
- A2 Chiasso – Basel: south entrance to Saint-Gotthard tunnel between Reiden and Wiggertal ramp, customs at Basel/Weil am Rhein
- A3 Sargans – Basel: à la douane de Bâle/Saint-Louis
- A8/A6 Interlaken – Thoune: Interlaken-Spiez
- A8 Sarnen – Hergiswil: Alpnachstad-Lopper ramp
- A9 Martigny – Lausanne: between Bex and Glion tunnel
- A13 Bellinzone – Sargans: south entrance to San Bernardino tunnel, between Rothenbrunnen and Reichenau, between Zizers and Sarganserland ramp
- contournements/bypasses for Bern (A1/A6), Lausanne (A1/A9) and Zurich (A3/A1).
Jura report, from Shirley Curran
All week, as usual, we have skied above the clouds that enshroud the Geneva basin. Conditions in the Jura are spectacular. The hard packed base has had sprinklings of new snow and the weather has been glacial with wonderful views of trees all clothed in white. Colder, snowy weather is now predicted for a few days – that is good news for us!
Ed. note: GenevaLunch will be adding a report from the Alps during the weekend, including coverage from the Chateau d’Oex Balloon Festival.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Travelers’ woes in Geneva continued Sunday 10 January, when Cointrin Airport closed for six hours, the longest closure in 25 years, thanks to snow. The airport is now open again, after 10cm of snow was removed.
China’s cold snap with high winds and heavy snows is set to continue, with the weather service giving a high-level orange alert for the third straight day. Temperatures are expected to plunge by as much as 18C, for a range of -20 to -32C in northern China and -10 to -18C in the south. The cold weather and largest snowfall in 60 years are closing airports and snarling traffic, with 15 highways including some around Beijing closed by heavy snow over the weekend. Thirty Beijing-Hong Kong flights were cancelled or suffered major delays due to Beijing’s snow and 1,200 flights were canceled or delayed Sunday alone in Beijing. The capital assigned 7,000 police officers to help direct traffic Monday morning and 5,000 volunteers to ensure that bus stops work smoothly.
South Korea was also badly affected by snow and cold, with the largest snowfall in 70 years.
Kloten International Airport, Zurich, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva’s Cointrin International Airport will most likely end 2009 with 2 percent fewer passengers, a figure that is healthier than those most airports will show this year. The figure was provided by Robert Deillon, president of AIG, which manages the airport, in an interview with Swiss wire service ATS. Deillon says that only four months showed drops, while traffic increased by 4 percent each month in October and November, compared to a year earlier.
Zurich’s Kloten airport is expected to show similar figures, says Deillon.
The figures contrast with the bigger industry picture, provided 15 December by Iata (International Air Transport Association) at an annual press conference in Geneva.
Blowing hard, heavy and wet: 30 November snow in Valais, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - December first 2009 blew into Switzerland with a blast of snow in mountain areas, snarling traffic around the Gotthard tunnel and cutting off cantons Valais and Graubuenden from each other. Electricity was cut in several areas late Monday and early Tuesday in parts of canton Bern. Train traffic was cut off between Arosa and Chur (Coire) after trees fell on the railway electric lines and the Rhettish Rail lines were closed in several areas due to concerns about avalanches.
Links to other sites: TSR (Fre) and swissinfo (Fre)
Traffic updates: Touring Club Suisse (Fre) and Swiss federal truck traffic site
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Winter evening autoroute traffic near Morges (Etoy)
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The electronic signs that warn drivers of slowdowns and accidents on Lake Geneva autoroutes, as well as the Internet service that provides these alerts, are no longer in service, as of Tuesday 1 December. The system has been dismantled to make way for a new real-time system that is part of the widening to six lanes of the Morges-Ecublens stretch on the A1 autoroute near Lausanne. The old system, set up to help drivers during the construction phase that often saw the road reduced to two lanes, will be dismantled 1-4 December to allow tests to be run on the new system for the next six weeks.
The automatic signaling system to alert drivers they may use the extra lanes will be put into operation in the second half of January 2010.
Expect tight security around the WTO buildings, but mainly at the CICG where the conference takes place
Several thousand in Geneva for WTO meeting, demonstration
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The barriers were being readied in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Thursday 26 November along the lake road in Geneva, and security measures around the area began to move into place for the start of the Seventh Ministerial Conference Monday 30 November, with several thousand people expected to take part.
Hotels have little space, but for local residents the main sign of the global talks will be disrupted traffic.
Detours and road closings begin Saturday 28 November, when 3,000-5,000 demonstrators are expected to take part in an anti-WTO march that starts at 14:30 at the Place Neuve.
Anti-WTO march Saturday after in centre of Geneva
The Vengeron exit (where the road split before the airport) on the A1 autoroute into Geneva, coming from Lausanne, will be closed early Saturday 28 November until the end of the march late afternoon. Traffic will be directed to the airport exit.
The march itinerary supplied by Geneva police:
French Alps, seen from Celigny, Vaud in Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Frontaliers (cross-border workers) are said by some to be at the root of many of Geneva’s social problems, from traffic to crime to unemployment. These concerns among Geneva’s voters were reflected in last weekend’s elections to the cantonal parliament, or Grand Conseil, which gave the right-wing Mouvement des Cityoyens Genevois (MCG) an increase of 8 seats to 17, out of 100.
Le Temps asks in a lengthy article 16 October if there is any truth to the concerns that MCG raises, namely that frontaliers cause the problems of which they are accused.
Drivers in the Pacific island nation of Samoa all switched to driving on the left-hand side of the road at 06:00 local time Tuesday 8 September to the sound of fire engine sirens, horns, clapping and car horns. Police and government workers were stationed at intersections around the main town Apia, and traffic was particularly heavy because many drivers wanted to take part in the historic moment. The town’s traffic lights were turned on for the occasion. The government introduced the change to the left to avoid importing expensive left-hand drive cars from the US. It hopes to be able to import used right-hand drive cars from Australia and New Zealand. BBC, New Zealand Herald, Pacific Islands Report
New temporary stoppages
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The A1 autoroute between Morges and Lausanne and the A9 between Montreux and Villeneuve will be closed Tuesday night to allow major roadworks. From 20:30 to 05:30 the A1 in the direction of Geneva will be closed, with traffic moved to the lake road. A lane will be left open in the direction of Lausanne. Emergency joints work on the Lausanne-Villeneuve stretch will require closing the A9 three times this week in the direction of Villeneuve, the first time Tuesday night, from 22:00 ot 05:30, from Chexbres to Villeneuve. Traffic will be rerouted to the lake road.
Background: “Autoroute works to begin Monday“, 02 July 2009, GenevaLunch
