Plöcken Pass

Restoration plans give hope to the economy

The Plöcken Pass has been closed for four months following a rockfall

(Bild: Hannes Wallner, Krone KREATIV)

After a massive rockslide on the Plöckenpass, hope is growing: The pass road is to be renovated by the end of the year. The business community is calling for a tunnel solution in the long term.

On Wednesday afternoon, a meeting took place at the Kötschach-Mauthen road maintenance depot between Martin Gruber, Vice-President of the province, and the Italian representative Cristina Amirante. She held out the prospect of repairing the badly damaged road by the end of the year. The construction of an emergency connection is not possible for safety reasons, it is said.

Tunnel for the development of the valley
The Carinthian economy has responded positively to this announcement, as businesses, holidaymakers and locals have had to take a detour of one and a half hours over the past four months. "If this is true, it is a big step and now the big solution should be decided," said Carinthia's Chamber of Commerce President Jürgen Mandl in an initial reaction.

Mandl is referring to a tunnel solution that has long been demanded by businesses in the Gailtal valley. Mandl: "With a tunnel, we are talking about a time horizon of 12, 13 years and this project would be very important for the development of the valley."

More safety
A tunnel solution would also protect the pass road from future rockfalls or mudslides. At the meeting between Gruber and Amirante, further planning and the establishment of a working group were promised.