Motorways of Switzerland

Overview of the motorways of Switzerland

Switzerland has a two class highway system: motorways with separated roads for oncoming traffic and a standard maximal speed limit of , and expressways often with oncoming traffic and a standard maximal speed limit of
Autobahnen in German, autoroutes in French, autostrade in Italian, autostradas in Romansch are the local names of the national motorways of Switzerland. Two of the most important freeways 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. Autostrassen in German, semi autoroutes in French, semiautostrade in Italian, autovias in Romansch are the local names of the national expressways. Motorways and expressways are restricted to motorized vehicles that can attain a speed of at least (VRV/ORC/ONC Art. 35 1). For the usage of any motorways or expressways the purchase of a motorway sticker ("vignette") to be put on the car's windshield is mandatory.

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.

The Swiss autobahn/autoroute network has a total length (as of April 2012) of , of the planned , and has, by an area of 41,290 km2, also one of the highest motorway densities in the world with many tunnels. There are 200 tunnels with a total length of
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. 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, have only 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 Swiss vignette is offered only as an annual toll sticker. Trucks also have to pay a toll based on the tonnage and the distance. The cantons abandoned the right to raise road and bridge tolls to the Confederation, and the only way of funding the road system is partly through the vignette, the motor tax for every registered vehicle and mainly through the federal taxes levied on each liter of gasoline, diesel fuel, etc. Tolls for the use of particular roads, tunnels or bridges cannot 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 only exceptions are the Munt la Schera and Great St Bernard tunnels and the train shuttles carrying road vehicles.