Germany news: Chaos possible as demo blocks Alpine pass

Traffic has increased along the Brenner route for many decadesImage: Luka Kolanovic/Steinsiek.ch/IMAGO

A demonstration to protest the growing amount of traffic using the Brenner Pass, a major Alpine transport route between Austria and Italy, will possibly cause great disruption to traffic in the entire region on Saturday.

Demonstrators plan to rally near Matrei on the Austrian side of the Brenner highway at midday (1000 UTC), leading to the closure of the entire Brenner corridor, including subsidiary roads, for at least eight hours.

Any disruption is likely to extend into southern Germany, with the Bavarian Red Cross preparing for traffic jams between the city of Rosenheim and the Austrian border.

Motorbikes could be used to bring water to any people stuck in such a traffic jam, it said.

Police in southern Bavaria are also deploying in large numbers to manage any congestion, among other things to make sure that emergency vehicles retain access to the site of any accident.

They advised motorists to avoid the Tyrol region.

Mayor Karl Mühlsteiger has called for the demonstrationImage: Sven Hoppe/dpa/picture alliance

The demonstration has been called by the mayor of the district of Gries in Austria, Karl Mühlsteiger.

He said that the 15,000 residents in the Brenner region no longer wanted to accept the growing amount of traffic, and that they were suffering adverse health effects from fine particle smog and noise.

Mühlsteiger also called for the existing bans for trucks at night and on weekends and public holidays to be retained in full force and for the construction of modern noise barriers.
  

Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn!

A demonstration that will block the Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy is predicted to cause long delays for traffic between northern and southern Europe, with disruption reaching into Germany.

Residents of the Brenner region have long been angry about the dangers to their health and wellbeing posed by the growing flood of traffic through the pass, with holidaymakers from Germany making up a large proportion of it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again suggested that ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a controversial figure because of his business ties to Russia and the Kremlin, be a EU negotiator in any talks aiming to end Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

And conservative German Family Minister Karin Prien wants parents to be made more aware of the possibly deleterious effects of excessive screen time on children and their education.

You can read more about these and other stories in our blog.