Kriens voters to decide on 26 million franc motorway roof contribution

Kriens voters will decide on September 27 whether the city should contribute 26.12 million Swiss francs to cover sections of the A2 motorway, SRF reported. The project is intended to reconnect neighbourhoods currently divided by the motorway.

About 70,000 vehicles travel daily along the motorway through Kriens, where it currently runs openly across the valley floor. The planned roofs would create new pedestrian and cycling connections, as well as green spaces and meeting areas.

The project includes a roof of up to 300 metres in the Arsenal area, an extension of the Schlund tunnel and a third roof in the Grosshof area. The Grosshof structure is planned as part of the wider Bypass project.

The roofs are expected to cost just under 187 million Swiss francs. The federal government is to cover 60 per cent, while the canton of Lucerne would contribute 48.5 million francs, or 26 per cent. Kriens would provide 14 per cent.

All political parties support the proposal, and the Kriens municipal council, the city parliament, backed it unanimously. No organised opposition has emerged so far, according to SRF.

Michèle Albrecht, co-president of the campaign committee supporting the project, said the debate had not followed traditional party lines. “The long-term development of Kriens was always at the centre,” she said.

The roofs are linked to Bypass Lucerne, a federal motorway project intended to reduce traffic in the city of Lucerne. The federal government plans to widen the A14 to six lanes north of Lucerne and build a tunnel to bypass the current urban motorway.

The overall Bypass Lucerne system is expected to take around 16 years to build and cost more than 1.8 billion Swiss francs. The project received planning approval and a building permit in February 2024, but the decision is not yet legally binding because appeals have been filed. Lucerne canton voters are due to decide on the canton’s contribution on November 29, 2026.