Project

Analysis of traffic volume on highway N8

EBP deploys various predictive models to show that the construction of the Kaiserstuhl Tunnel on Highway N8 between Lungern and Giswil will not lead to an increase in traffic volume.

The section of the Brünigstrasse highway between Lungern and Giswil is steep and narrow. The number of accidents that occur along the 4-km section is correspondingly high. The construction of the Kaiserstuhl Tunnel, which is an important element in the completion of the federal highway network, is expected to improve the current situation. However, many have expressed their concern that an expansion of the Lungern-Giswil section of the highway will lead to an increase in traffic volume in the Canton of Obwalden because it will encourage drivers from further away to use the section as a transit route.

EBP conducted an examination of the impact the tunnel can be expected to have on traffic. After evaluating the results of a traffic count and a micro-census from 2010, the firm was able to arrive at a breakdown of the traffic along the section of highway in question.

Reference to a spider-web analysis in the National Passenger Traffic Model also showed that the through traffic over the Brünig Pass will not play a significant role. The data show that 50% of the vehicles that pass along the highway between Lungern and Giswil are either heading for, or have come from, the Cantons of Obwalden and Bern.

The traffic models and other simulations used to estimate the modal shift and the associated short-term increase in traffic volume provide compelling evidence that the expansion of Highway N8 between Lungern and Giswil will not lead to an increase in traffic volume.

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