A8 expansion in Bavaria

Salzburg is worried about the eternal traffic jam

The chronically congested A8 between Salzburg and Munich is to be expanded(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

Bavaria is pressing ahead with plans to widen the A8 towards Salzburg to six lanes in some places and at least three lanes at critical points. This meets with little approval here in Austria.

The Tauernautobahn and traffic jams have gone together like butter and bread, and not just since the start of the tunnel renovation in fall 2023. Especially during the vacation months, there are traditionally miles of queues of cars and hours of delays on the A10.

So the announcement by Bavarian CSU Minister Markus Söder that they want to step up the pace when expanding the A8 between Munich and Salzburg sounds like a threat to the Salzburgers. More lanes inevitably mean more traffic.

Markus Söder's Bavarian CSU wants to push ahead with the expansion of the A8 towards Salzburg - Salzburg prefers the rail offensive.(Bild: MICHAELA REHLE)

And indeed: the government of Upper Bavaria recently granted planning permission for the 7.8-kilometre section between the Achenmühle junction and Bernauer Berg. There are two lanes on each side, but no emergency lane. Traffic jams are the order of the day. But would an expansion to three lanes and closer to Munich to six lanes in some cases solve the problems?

 "We assume that the expansion of the A8 will attract even more traffic and advocate expanding the railroad accordingly beforehand. The A10 Tauernautobahn is already at its capacity limit. It is unacceptable for the neighboring communities to be burdened even more by the alternative traffic," says Salzburg Transport Minister Stefan Schnöll (ÖVP), who has long been ringing the alarm bells.