Autobahns of Switzerland

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The autobahn sign
The autobahn sign

Autobahnen, Autoroutes or Autostrade are names of the national freeways of Switzerland. Two of the most important autobahns are the A1, running from St. Margrethen in northeastern Switzerland's canton of St. Gallen through to Geneva in southwestern Switzerland, and the A2, running from Basel in northwestern Switzerland to Chiasso in southern Switzerland's canton of Ticino, on the border with Italy. Autobahn (plural: Autobahnen) is the German name; in French-speaking Switzerland they are known as autoroutes (singular: autoroute), and in Italian-speaking Switzerland they are known as autostrade.

Swiss autobahnen/autoroutes have general speed limits of 120 km/h (75 mph).

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In Switzerland, it is impractical to navigate using the autobahn/autoroute numbers; instead it is more useful to steer towards the biggest city that lies in the intended target region; this is because traffic signs display the city names much more prominently than in Germany and display the route number less prominently and less frequently.[citation needed] Another localization is that in Switzerland the exit sliproads appear much more often than in other countries.

A short stretch of autobahn around the Lucerne area in 1955 created Switzerland's first autobahn. For Expo 1964, an autoroute was built between Lausanne and Geneva. The Bern-Lenzburg autobahn was inaugurated in 1967.

Map of the Swiss autobahn network
Map of the Swiss autobahn network

The Swiss autobahn/autoroute network has a total length of 1,638 km (as of 2000) and has, by an area of 41,290 km², also the one of the highest motorway densities in the world. The Swiss autobahn/autoroute network has not yet been completed; priority has been given to the most important routes, especially the north-south and the west-east axis. The gaps in the autobahn network are apparent in the graphic.

Swiss autobahns/autoroutes very often have an emergency lane except in tunnels. Some newly built autobahn sections, like the lone section crossing the Jura region in the north-western part of Switzerland, only have emergency bays.

The Swiss autobahn/autoroute system requires the purchase of a vignette (toll sticker) - which costs 40 Swiss francs - for one calendar year in order to use its roadways, for both passenger cars and trucks. The cantons abandoned the right to raise road and bridge tolls to the Confederation, and the only way of funding the road system is through the vignette and the motor tax for every registered vehicle. Tolls for the use of particular roads, tunnels or bridges can't be raised according to the Swiss constitution and so even the use of cost-intensive pieces of infrastructure such as the Gotthard Road Tunnel is financed by the entire system.

The Swiss vignette is offered only as an annual toll sticker.

Note: Portions in italics indicate routes under construction or projection.

  • A1 follows the country's main east-west axis from St. Gallen to Geneva:
A13 - St. Margrethen (Austrian border) - A1.1 - St. Gallen - Winterthur - Zürich - Olten - Aarau - Berne - Murten - Avenches - Payerne - Estavayer-le-Lac - Yverdon-les-Bains - Lausanne - Nyon - Geneva - border CH/F

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahns_of_Switzerland"
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