Summer roadworks

Graz: Traffic jam shifts, vacation timetable starts

Elisabethstraße bottleneck: Only one lane is open, the parallel road Leonhardstraße is also closed due to construction work at Maiffredygasse.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

After months of construction work, Neutorgasse has been opened to traffic, and the start of the vacations has shifted the traffic jams to the highways heading south. Public transport drivers in Graz now need to be patient: there are replacement services on four lines. 

For months, commuters on their way to Graz city center suffered from traffic jams and lost time - due to the construction sites on Joanneumring and Neutorgasse. The summer vacation should now bring relief: There will be less traffic during the vacation period, and Neutorgasse has also been open to traffic since Monday. This will make things easier. 

Elisabethstraße remains a bottleneck, where a roadworks site has been blocking one lane for weeks. But now the parallel road Leonhardstraße is also closed - for pumice and cars. The rails are being replaced at the junction in front of the Parkhotel. According to Holding Graz, the roadworks will last until September 8.

At Maiffredygasse, the Bim is getting new rails(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Replacement buses have to pass through the construction site area
However, this means that the replacement buses for lines 1 and 7 now also have to pass through Elisabethstraße - causing delays in the construction site area. "It took me 40 minutes to travel six kilometers from Stiftingtal to the city," described a Krone reader last week.

Passengers on lines 4 and 5 also need to be patient: replacement buses are running from Jakominiplatz in the direction of Puntigam and Liebenau. In Puntigam, a double-track expansion of the tracks at the central cemetery is underway. This should enable tighter intervals in future. 

The Neutorgasse can now be used(Bild: Sepp Pail)

15 percent fewer public transport connections
Holding Graz's vacation timetable also started on July 6. "We have 15 percent fewer bus services throughout the day," says Group spokesperson Gerald Zaczek-Pichler. "The intervals will be reduced, especially in the morning, because the schoolchildren are not there." During the summer vacations, children up to the age of 15 can travel for free on public transport.

Traffic jam on the highway
There was a traffic jam on the highway between Wildon and Graz and on the alternative routes on Monday morning. The reason: a truck broke down in the Plabutschtunnel and had to be towed away; according to Asfinag, the road in the direction of Linz was closed between 6.18 am and 7.38 am.