by Florian König, maut1.de - 04 September 2024
All motorists who want to cross the Reschen Pass to Italy or back must be prepared for massive obstructions on the Tyrolean side from September 2024 to the end of 2026. The popular alternative route for the A13 Brenner motorway, which will be massively restricted from the beginning of 2025 due to the urgently needed renovation work, will itself become a long-lasting construction site.
The route over the Reschen Pass with its famous reservoir, from which the church tower of the flooded village of Graun rises, is a popular alternative route, especially for travellers who want to avoid the route via the Brenner motorway, which is known for traffic jams, especially during peak travel times. It leads from Landeck in Austria through the Inn Valley over the Reschen Pass to the Vinschgau Valley in South Tyrol.
Reschenpass: Why the closure and construction site are necessary
According to the Tyrolean provincial government, the construction of a 400 metre long rockfall gallery on the Reschen main road in the section between Tschingelsgalerie and Kanzelkehre has become urgently necessary because rocks keep breaking out of the steep, rocky and unstable terrain above the road, some of which also break through the existing rockfall protection nets.
In February 2024, for example, a 20 x 30 centimetre chunk of rock hit a bus on the B180 between Pfunds and Nauders. In 2019, the road was closed for four weeks after a rockfall. In 2022, a rock the size of a cubic metre crashed onto the B180. Fortunately, no one was injured in any of these incidents in the past.
Known dates for 2024:
- First closure phase from 2 to 27 September: Closure Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Second closure phase from 8 October to 19 December: The road is closed day and night as well as at weekends.
The diversion for cars is via the Engadiner (B184) and Martinsbrucker Straße (B185) and thus leads partly through Swiss territory.
Attention: HGVs, vehicles with a trailer over 6.5 metres and buses over 13 metres are not permitted to use this alternative route and must wait for the specified closure times accordingly or take a more spacious alternative route.
Motorhomes are not subject to any restrictions and may use the signposted diversion route; however, caravan combinations are only permitted if the trailer is no longer than 6.5 metres.
Important note on the diversion via Martinsbrucker Straße
The B185 is a very winding mountain road (10 hairpin bends) with a steep longitudinal gradient in places. Even in poor winter driving conditions, appropriate winter equipment (especially snow chains) is required!
During the 2024/2025 winter season (from 20 December 2024 to 9 March 2025), the Reschen Pass will be open to two lanes again. This is also expected to apply to the period around the public holiday on 3 October (German Unity Day).
Planned closure dates for the years 2025 and 2026:
- Traffic will be diverted again from 10 March 2025 to 2 May 2025.
- From 6 May 2025, traffic will then be routed to the Reschen Pass in a single lane with traffic lights. This traffic regulation is expected to last until August/September 2026.
Before the planned completion at the end of 2026, the road will then have to be closed for a further three months from September to November from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to complete the expansion and asphalting work.
For comparison, the traffic figures for the Reschen Pass and Brenner motorway
Over 6254 cars and lorries drove over the Reschen Pass on average every day in May 2024 (most recent figure from the Nauders-Reschen Pass counting station) according to Traffic Information Tyrol. During the same period, 8298 vehicles travelled over the Brenner Pass at the Innsbruck-Süd counting station.
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