Gotthard closed for at least three weeks

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Thx
Tom

Btw some pictures here http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/artikel/38/76961/
Two people were killed when their car was hit by a huge boulder.

Tom Peel wrote:

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st,
and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks.
I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks
like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the
Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent

late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these
routes?

This time problem its not the tunnel nor the pass but the
highway and the main road North of the tunnel.

Outside San Bernardino, you could use either Grand
St-Bernard (tunnel) or Simplon (pass road) for Milano.
For Simplon, Lötschberg railway tunnel is probably
the better way rather than the mostly boring detour
via Vevey-Martigny-Sion.

If you should look for a scenic route, Lucerne, Sarnen,
then Grimsel and Nufenen pass roads to Airolo and
from there (probably very little traffic ....) to Milano
might be an option

As weather is improving, I expect moutain pass roads
to be open very soon (Simplon pass road is open
anyways most of the year)

Plans to reopen the railway service for cars through
St.Gotthard tunnel were considered, but looks like
Swiss Federal Railways dont have the equipment
any more - and unfortunately, despite of political
options for putting trucks on rail, the offer for cars on
rail remains limited to a very few tunnels - no real
"Autoreisezug" as offered in Germany or Austria for
example

Following up to Tom Peel :

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Thx
Tom

Btw some pictures here http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/artikel/38/76961/
Two people were killed when their car was hit by a huge boulder.


It's only the motorway that's closed isn't it?
I believe the pass road is still open.

You can keep informed of the Swiss road conditions he
German/Italian/French versions he
http://www.swissinfo.org/ger/Swissin...eSect=490#pass
http://www.swissinfo.org/ita/Swissin...eSect=490#pass
http://www.swissinfo.org/fre/Swissin...eSect=490#pass


--
Tim C.

Tom Peel wrote:

I have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Taking San Bernardino is an obvious option, however, traffic may be
extremely condensed there. Once you enter Switzerland, call 111
and ask them to forward you to "Verkehrsinfo" service
(ithis may cost you 2 to 5 Euro) and check for waiting times.

According to
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...e_tunnels.html
Spluga pass is now open, so if there is a 3 hours jam at San
Bernardino,
wasting 2 extra hours on Spluga pass still may save you some time.
I hope you don't pull a trailer...

I'd suggest to go via Stuttgart/Schaffhausen instead of
Frankfurt/Basel,
anyway.

Regards,
Andrei

"Tim C." wrote in message
...
Following up to Tom Peel :

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Thx
Tom

Btw some pictures here http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/artikel/38/76961/
Two people were killed when their car was hit by a huge boulder.


It's only the motorway that's closed isn't it?
I believe the pass road is still open.

No, like the man said: the roads that lead to pass and tunnel are closed.
IMHO they will remain closed far longer than 3 weeks.
It will be scary for any engineer to declare that part safe after what
happened last week.
He can face serious charges is people die agian.

Ronald

Tom Peel schrieb:

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Just to confirm: the road and highway between Wassen and Amsteg
is scheduled to be closed til June 25.

St.Gotthard tunnel and pass, all other mountain pass roads are
open with the exception of Susten (to June 9), Klausen, Pragel
and Glaubenberg.

See also
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...enzustand.html
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...e_tunnels.html

For Cologne - Milano, best probably is Basel - Berne - Lötschberg
(rail) - Simplon or slighly longer and more scenic Berne - Vevey -
Martigny - Grand St-Bernard - Aosta.

The route I would choose if I had time for is Lucerne - Sarnen
- Brünig - Grimsel (pass road) - Gletsch - Nufenen (pass road)
to Airolo: TwixRoute counts almost 3 h for the 130 km scenic
route ...... .
(www.viamichelin.com seems to consider Grimsel pass road as
closed)

Just hope not to get all transit traffic there for my next motorbike
tour :-)

Following up to "R@L" :


"Tim C." wrote in message
.. .
Following up to Tom Peel :

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Thx
Tom

Btw some pictures here http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/artikel/38/76961/
Two people were killed when their car was hit by a huge boulder.


It's only the motorway that's closed isn't it?
I believe the pass road is still open.

No, like the man said: the roads that lead to pass and tunnel are closed.
IMHO they will remain closed far longer than 3 weeks.
It will be scary for any engineer to declare that part safe after what
happened last week.
He can face serious charges is people die agian.


But the roads are blocked between Wassen and Amsteg aren't they, which is
north of Andermatt. That means the road for the pass from Andermatt is
open.

If that's the case then you could go round via Meiringen and the Grimsel,
up the top of the Furka to Andermatt and take the pass road.
Alternatively, a more scenic route as someone else suggested, go over the
Nufenen.
--
Tim C.

schrieb:
Tom Peel schrieb:

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Just to confirm: the road and highway between Wassen and Amsteg
is scheduled to be closed til June 25.

St.Gotthard tunnel and pass, all other mountain pass roads are
open with the exception of Susten (to June 9), Klausen, Pragel
and Glaubenberg.

See also
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...enzustand.html
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...e_tunnels.html

For Cologne - Milano, best probably is Basel - Berne - Lötschberg
(rail) - Simplon or slighly longer and more scenic Berne - Vevey -
Martigny - Grand St-Bernard - Aosta.

The route I would choose if I had time for is Lucerne - Sarnen
- Brünig - Grimsel (pass road) - Gletsch - Nufenen (pass road)
to Airolo: TwixRoute counts almost 3 h for the 130 km scenic
route ...... .
(www.viamichelin.com seems to consider Grimsel pass road as
closed)

Just hope not to get all transit traffic there for my next motorbike
tour :-)


Yes, I'm going to be rather heavily loaded, and from previous
experiences on the older pass roads, I'd be happier on a well-maintained
one. I read that the San Bernardino has a lot of road works, so maybe
I'll take the Grand St Bernard, even though it means paying extra.

T.

Tim C. schrieb:
Following up to "R@L" :

"Tim C." wrote in message
...
Following up to Tom Peel :

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Thx
Tom

Btw some pictures here http://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/artikel/38/76961/
Two people were killed when their car was hit by a huge boulder.

It's only the motorway that's closed isn't it?
I believe the pass road is still open.
No, like the man said: the roads that lead to pass and tunnel are closed.
IMHO they will remain closed far longer than 3 weeks.
It will be scary for any engineer to declare that part safe after what
happened last week.
He can face serious charges is people die agian.


But the roads are blocked between Wassen and Amsteg aren't they, which is
north of Andermatt. That means the road for the pass from Andermatt is
open.

If that's the case then you could go round via Meiringen and the Grimsel,
up the top of the Furka to Andermatt and take the pass road.
Alternatively, a more scenic route as someone else suggested, go over the
Nufenen.

Seems that apart from the problem of clearing the road -some of those
rocks must weigh a few hundred tons each- the concern is the safety. The
rock face that collapsed is considered unsafe, and until they have
dynamited all the loose rock, they are not letting anybody use the road.

T.

Following up to Tom Peel :

schrieb:
Tom Peel schrieb:

In case you missed the news, the St Gotthard road tunnel and pass in
Switzerland are closed as the result of a massive rockfall May 31st, and
the route is now expected to be closed for at least another 3 weeks. I
have to drive down from Cologne to Milan next Tuesday, so it looks like
I will have to make a detour either over the San Bernardino or the Grand
St Bernard. Other routes may still be closed on account of the recent
late snowfalls. Does anyone have any recommendations on these routes?

Just to confirm: the road and highway between Wassen and Amsteg
is scheduled to be closed til June 25.

St.Gotthard tunnel and pass, all other mountain pass roads are
open with the exception of Susten (to June 9), Klausen, Pragel
and Glaubenberg.

See also
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...enzustand.html
http://www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/verke...e_tunnels.html

For Cologne - Milano, best probably is Basel - Berne - Lötschberg
(rail) - Simplon or slighly longer and more scenic Berne - Vevey -
Martigny - Grand St-Bernard - Aosta.

The route I would choose if I had time for is Lucerne - Sarnen
- Brünig - Grimsel (pass road) - Gletsch - Nufenen (pass road)
to Airolo: TwixRoute counts almost 3 h for the 130 km scenic
route ...... .
(www.viamichelin.com seems to consider Grimsel pass road as
closed)

Just hope not to get all transit traffic there for my next motorbike
tour :-)


Yes, I'm going to be rather heavily loaded, and from previous
experiences on the older pass roads, I'd be happier on a well-maintained
one. I read that the San Bernardino has a lot of road works, so maybe
I'll take the Grand St Bernard, even though it means paying extra.

T.

Tom are you doing the tip on a bike or in a car?
The Gotthard pass road is pretty well made, it's hardly any different from
using the motorway (unless the weather's bad) for quality, even if it's not
2 lanes each way for the whole stretch. Fast, tight, a-road sweepers
mostly.
--
Tim C.