Austria protest to shut key European highway

A protest in Austria on Saturday against noise and pollution is set to close one of Europe's most important highways connecting Germany and Italy, potentially causing major traffic disruptions.

Communities in Austria's western Tyrol province have long complained about traffic, especially trucks passing over the Brenner Pass and through the province.

The highway links northern and southern Europe, with the Austrian stretch providing trans-Alpine access into Italy.

To make space for Saturday's rally, authorities are closing part of the highway and surrounding roads to all transit traffic from 11:00am local time (0900 GMT) to 7:00pm.

Austria's motoring club OeAMTC has warned of the possibility of "extensive traffic jams" and advised drivers to avoid travelling through Tyrol that day.

Many Germans usually travel on the Brenner Pass during the Pentecost holidays.

The rally at Matrei am Brenner is due to start at 1:00pm local time and last until 4:30pm.

"We want to send a message to Brussels, to the federal government in Vienna, that things absolutely cannot and must not continue like this with the constantly increasing traffic here," protest organiser Karl Muehlsteiger told AFP.

"This has been an issue for a very, very long time. It's been dragging on for years," said Muehlsteiger, who is the mayor of Gries am Brenner.

"It is no longer manageable for the population, no longer bearable," he added, saying pollution, noise and traffic jams were plaguing local communities like his along the highway.

HEAVY GOODS TRAFFIC

Lorry traffic through the Alpine Brenner Pass has increased to the point that more than 2.4 million vehicles used it last year, according to mobility organisation VCOe.

This compares to a total of 860,000 trucks passing through neighbouring Switzerland via four transit routes, VCOe added.

In 1991, only 900,000 lorries used the Brenner Pass, according to road statistics.

Austria has for years been at loggerheads with the European Commission, which has said any ban on heavy goods lorries (HGVs) risks disrupting EU road traffic.

In 2023, the European Union's top court suspended an Austrian order banning heavy goods lorries from a stretch of the highway.

Austria has been in dispute with its EU neighbours over the environmental impact of HGV traffic ever since it joined the bloc in 1995.