Attention holidaymakers!: Arlberg tunnel closed for six months in summer 2023 – Oberndorf and surroundings
Attention holidaymakers: If you want to travel to Austria next summer, you have to be prepared for delays and diversions. The Arlberg tunnel is closed for six months.
Austria – be careful when planning your trip: These could be more difficult in the summers of 2023 and 2024. At least the vacationers who are making their way towards the Arlberg tunnel and are prepared for detours: Austria’s longest tunnel, which connects the federal states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol and is one of the most important travel routes for German vacationers, especially in the Lake Constance region, will be blocked for the time being be.
As the ADAC reports in a press release, the tunnel will remain closed from April to October 2023. The two-way closure of the tunnel will therefore begin on Monday, April 24th. According to the ADAC and the Austrian motorway company Asfinag, the reason for the closure is the complete renewal of the roadway. 45 years after the tunnel was commissioned, this is showing its age and therefore urgently needs to be replaced. In addition, the tunnel coating was renovated and the drainage improved.
Detour takes 30 minutes longer
A detour is to be made for motorists via the parallel, 1793 meter high Arlberg Pass. The ADAC calls for a delay of around 30 minutes to be included in the travel planning, depending on the volume of traffic. However, it is still unclear what will happen to campers with camper trailers. So far, there has been a specific driving ban for sidecars on the Arlberg Pass.
However, this driving ban was suspended during selected closures of the Arlberg Pass, so the ADAC assumes in its notification that this will also be the case in the 2023 closure. According to this, trucks are only allowed to pass the route if their destinations are in the immediate vicinity. The nationwide truck traffic has to give way over a large area. Rail traffic on the Arlberg route will not be affected by the closure.
There will also be a ban in 2024
The same fate will also be the case in 2024: All work cannot be completed in the coming summer, so the tunnel will probably not be passable in the year after next from April to September.