Voters to decide on major Swiss motorway expansion

The Swiss government wants to widen one of the country’s major motorways to at least six lanes in key stretches between Bern and Zurich and between Geneva and Lausanne, at a cost CHF5.3 billion ($6.2 billion). Opponents of the plan have launched a referendum. The Swiss people will cast their votes on November 24. The A1 motorway stretches 410 kilometres from the east to the west of Switzerland. It is the longest motorway in the country. It is also the most congested, with 16,279 hours of traffic jams in 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office. To solve the problem, the government has proposed to parliament the financing of six motorway expansion projects that are ready to be implemented. Five of them are in the German-speaking part of the country and one is in the French-speaking region. Parliament approved the plan in September 2023. This prompted a broad alliance led by the Swiss transport association (Verkehrs-Club der Schweiz, VCS) and the environmental group ...