Five tunnels promise relief but raise traffic fears

Five tunnel projects in the Loisach Valley are intended to ease traffic around Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but residents fear the new routes could bring more vehicles. The projects will cost about 1.5 billion euros over roughly a decade, BR reports.

The Kramertunnel is expected to divert traffic from the western part of Garmisch-Partenkirchen towards the Fern Pass and Ehrwald. Residents hope it will reduce noise and exhaust fumes in the town. It is due to open in 2028 and, at nearly four kilometres, will be Bavaria’s longest road tunnel. Together with the Farchant and Oberau tunnels, it is intended to route up to 30,000 vehicles a day through and around Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Further north, construction has begun on the Auerberg tunnel, at the end of the A95 motorway. The project comprises two tunnels, each about 1,900 metres long. Crews are currently carrying out four or five blasts a day, working around the clock and excavating about 10 metres of tunnel daily.

Up to 4,500 tonnes of rock are removed each day. The material is sampled and classified before being disposed of as special waste, BR reports.

Residents are also concerned about a decision in Tyrol to make the Fern Pass route between the end of the A7 and the Inn Valley a toll road. They fear drivers avoiding the toll could increase through traffic between Ehrwald, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald.

Mittenwald Mayor Enrico Corongiu says road expansions can generate more traffic and make the route more attractive. He fears that if congestion controls and exit restrictions in Tyrol push drivers onto alternative routes, navigation systems could direct them through narrow residential streets in Mittenwald. The town currently lacks the legal basis to impose preventive road closures, BR reports.

The article also raises questions about the planned Wank tunnel, whose construction is expected to begin around 2030, but does not provide further details.