The heavy traffic on the Alpine passes has been the last straw for local residents. Tourists will have to find other places to go on holiday in the future.
Bolzano – The Alpine clubs in the Dolomites region have clearly had enough of traffic jams, noise and private racing drivers on the Alpine passes. With the words “Enough is enough, the limit has been exceeded” they called on the Italian authorities in a statement on Tuesday to implement urgent measures against the high volume of traffic.
“The traffic on the passes has now reached an unbearable level in the summer months, the influx of cars, sports cars and motorcycles is affecting the quality of life of both the residents and the tourists,” says the joint statement of the Alpine clubs, according to information from the Italian news portal SALTO. Among the signatories are, for example, representatives of the South Tyrolean Alpine Clubof Italian Alpine Clubs and the Società degli Alpinisti Tridentini from Val Badia, Val di Fassa, Val Gardena and Livinallongo. The clubs represent a total of around 3,700 mountain lovers from the Dolomites region.
The situation at the Sellajoch Pass in particular is said to be unacceptable. It was here at the beginning of September that a serious breakdown occurred. The brakes of a bus failed, it crushed several cars and a holidaymaker was injured.
Traffic jams, noise and exhaust fumes on the Alpine passes: residents in the Dolomites are reaching their limits
The clubs from Italy are calling for a traffic ban between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the summer. Residents, businesses and public transport are to be exempt from the ban. “In the Dolomite valleys, alternative transport infrastructure such as cable cars is already sufficiently available,” SALTO continues. In the view of the associations, however, the bus frequencies should be more intensively timed.
According to the newspaper The Dolomites Tourism is the main source of income for a large part of the population in the affected areas. But many people have reached their personal limits. “It is not just the traffic on the passes, but also the connecting roads that are now overloaded,” the portal quotes representative Davide Schuen from the Lia da Munt Ladinia – Val Badia.
Population is “fed up with traffic chaos”: Associations demand road closures on the Alpine passes
In the past, environmental initiatives had already attempted to combat the high volume of traffic on the Alpine passes. A planned bicycle demonstration was, however, banned by the Bolzano police department. According to Schuen, the mood among the population shows “that the population is fed up with the traffic chaos,” as well as the “sports cars and motorcycles that use the panoramic roads as private race tracks,” thereby causing not only noise but also additional exhaust fumes.
Georg Simeoni, President of the AVS, has also had enough. According to The Dolomites he primarily blames the provincial administration for the current traffic situation. “For more than 20 years we have been demanding a solution to the traffic problem on the Dolomite passes,” Simeoni is quoted as saying. Instead of working with the neighboring provinces and finding solutions, the administration has hidden behind a lack of competence and staff over the decades. (nz)
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