The Brenner motorway, which links Austria to northern Italy and serves as a primary route for drivers headed south from Germany, is set to be completely closed for most of the day on Saturday, May 30th.
The closure is being caused by a protest against excessive traffic in the area.
The ADAC reported a high risk of traffic jams and travel disruptions starting Friday and lasting through the weekend. The Local Austria also reported that travellers are being urged to avoid driving toward the Brenner at all during the weekend if possible.
When and where is the motorway closed?
The full closure of the Brenner route (southbound - coming from Germany/Austria) is set for around 11 am to 7 pm on May 30th.
ADAC notes that northbound traffic (returning to Germany from Italy) will be stopped from 10:30 am to 8 pm.
It will affect the A13 Brenner motorway between the Schönberg toll station and Brenner. The Brenner road (B182) and the Ellbögen road (L38) will also be closed during that period.
Through drivers be warned: This will be a total closure of the Brenner corridor -- official statements have made as much clear.
The total closure is limited to May 30th, but heavy traffic is expected through the weekend, both on the pass and surrounding roads.
This disruption comes during what is expected to be among the busiest weekends on the roads here all year. This is due to a public holiday in Italy on June 2nd as well as ongoing Pentecost holiday periods in the German states of Bavaria, Baden-WĂĽrttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt.Â
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More than 30,000 car travellers may be affected.
Anyone travelling towards Italy, returning north through the Brenner, or driving elsewhere in Tyrol that weekend should check live traffic information and allow for major delays.
ADAC warns that regional journeys as far north as southern Bavaria may be affected. This may include stationary traffic on motorways in the greater area south of Munich.
Exception for destination traffic
For most travellers, there will be no workaround as there will be no diversion routes for transit traffic.
The only exception is so-called source or destination traffic. That applies where the start or end point of the journey can be shown to be in one of the valleys close to the Brenner: the Wipptal, Gschnitztal, Navistal, Schmirntal or Valsertal.
So if you are travelling to or from those local areas, you may still be able to get through.
If your destination is further south, however, you'll need to divert your route via the A10/A11 to the east or the A14 to the west. Heavy traffic is expected on these routes through the weekend as well.
Why will the pass be closed?
Traffic on the Brenner pass has been common recently due to a construction site at the Lueg Bridge.
However, the full closure of the route on Saturday is the result of a protest requested by the mayor of Gries am Brenner, against the burden of heavy through traffic on his municipality.
It is due to take place on a car park area of the Brenner motorway near the motorway junction at Matrei.
The mayor had applied twice before for a similar protest. On both previous occasions, the authorities banned it. But last year, the Tyrol regional administrative court upheld a complaint by the mayor and overturned the district authority’s decision, saying his right to freedom of assembly had been violated.Â
Therefore the protest is set to go forward on Saturday, and travellers who had planed to drive between Germany, Austria and Italy may want to consider postponing their trip or travelling by other means.
Rail connections over the Brenner are not affected.
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