As of: March 29, 2024, 10:43 a.m
By: Josef Hornsteiner
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Nothing works anymore on Innsbrucker Straße in Mittenwald, from where many drivers try to escape the traffic via the Leutasch. © private
The Easter weekend is just around the corner and Mittenwald's citizens are afraid of another traffic collapse like during the carnival holidays. Therefore, further traffic measures are now planned.
Isar Valley - Many locals still have images of the devastating traffic jam weekends in their heads during the carnival holidays (we reported). Crowded streets in and around Mittenwald are now a thing of the past, which is why authorities have taken action. The traffic jam will not disappear into thin air, but signs and police presence have had an effect on the first Easter holiday weekend.
Last Saturday only federal highway 2 near Mittenwald was shut down. This was not just due to the digital traffic signs from the Weilheim State Building Authority at the Klais and Mittenwald Nord junctions, which warned travelers not to leave the B 2. The police presence in particular prevented many from driving to Mittenwald. “We didn't close the exits, but we talked to road users and gave them advice and information,” explains Bastian Straif, head of the Weilheim traffic police station. I was surprised to see that there was a lot of traffic heading south despite the bad weather.
Police receive support from traffic police on motorcycles from Weilheim
Not only were the Garmisch-Partenkirchen PI officers on duty, but also two of Straif's colleagues on motorcycles. They reported in real time where the traffic jam was currently occurring, from which direction the avalanche was developing and informed drivers that there was no time in getting off the federal highway.
In Mittenwald there was little noticeable traffic volume. “It was quiet, no comparison to the carnival holidays,” confirms the head of the public order office, Josef Stieglmeier. He was also on duty on Saturday and will also be on call for the next two holiday weekends and will monitor the situation. “We will also be coming back on both Saturdays to educate people,” promises Straif.
16,000 cars were on the road instead of 23,000
“While around 23,000 cars were on the road every day on the weekends during the carnival holidays, there were now 16,000,” says Martin Herda from the Weilheim building authority. This means that traffic on the first Easter weekend would have been far less than during the carnival holidays. “But the number is still significantly higher than normal traffic volumes,” explains the . Road construction south of the authority.
As is well known, the climatic health resort of Mittenwald was hit by an unprecedented sheet metal avalanche during the carnival holidays. Even on residential streets and side streets, incorrigible long-distance travelers wanted to squeeze their way through in their cars. Scenes that have been particularly exacerbated by the block clearances and dosing lights at the border crossings at the Fernpass and Achensee.