What's up with the Brenner Pass?

The four lane motorway (dual carriage way) connecting Innsbruck (Austria) in the north to Bolzano (Italy) in the south is a vital road link in the eastern Alps. The Brenner Pass connects the hugely popular ski resorts of the Italian Dolomites with Innsbruck airport. The journey of 75 miles typically took less than two hours to resorts such as Selva, Ortisei, Corvara and San Cassiano. Much of the motorway, including the Europa Bridge (which sits 180m above the Sill River valley below), was built in the 1960's. However, the volume of traffic, which has increased in recent years, has meant that large scale engineering improvements needed to be made.

Part of the works required involves replacing the Lueg Bridge which was constructed in 1970 but has now reached the end of its useful life. In order to keep the bridge open whilst works are carried out has meant from 01st January 2025 the bridge has been restricted to just a single lane in either direction. If the weather is bad or if there is an accident the delays caused can be severe. Stage 1 of the five year project is the building of a new two lane bridge next to the existing bridge. Stage 2 will see the demolition of the old bridge. Stage 3 will see the building of a second new bridge (running where the old bridge stood) also with two lanes. The finished project of the two new bridges will see one with two lanes of traffic travelling in north to south direction, and the other with two lanes of traffic travelling in the opposite direction, south to north.

The completion of the first bridge is planned to be finished 2027 and this will then allow two lanes of traffic in both directions (with speed restrictions). However, the project will not be fully completed until 2030 when the second bridge is scheduled to open.

In the meantime, transfers between Innsbruck airport, in the north, and the ski resorts of the Italian Dolomites, in the south, will be severely affected. Whereas this is an inconvenience at the start of your holiday it can be more of a problem at the end when a flight back to the UK needs to be caught.

Here is a synopsis of the Brenner Pass traffic issues from one of our taxi suppliers based in Austria:

"The Brenner motorway is, and will continue to be, a challenge for us in the next coming years. Depending on flight times, we were lucky with most transfers last season and were able to drop off clients at the airport on time. However, for a few clients travelling from Italy northwards, we missed the departure flights due to accidents (up to three hours of waiting on the motorway) and holiday traffic so that the clients had to spend a night in Innsbruck. We also experienced problems on mid-week transfers.

Sundays are generally less congested with fewer trucks on the road compared to Saturdays. We have a few regular clients who, especially on their return journey to Innsbruck, prefer to spend the night in Innsbruck and fly home the next day. This eliminates time pressure for clients and drivers in the event of traffic jams or accidents. Very early pick-ups from resort in the mornings was also helpful. Clients would rather wait an extra hour or two at Innsbruck airport for their flight home rather than miss their plane.

We explain to all our clients the situation regarding roadworks on the Brenner Pass, with the necessary early pick-up times for the return transfer (sometimes up to 7 hours before flight departure time depending on the resort we pick up from). Ultimately it's up to the clients to decide which airport they choose to fly in and out of, and whether they want to take the risks of using the Brenner Pass."

Until the works are completed in 2030 we recommend using Venice Marco Polo airport (flights with easyJet and Britsh Airways). For resorts such as Selva and Ortisei Verona aiport works best.

Venice Marco Polo Airport transfer times:

Selva = 3.25 hours (192km)

San Cassiano = 2.75 hours (180km)

Corvara = 2.50 hours (171km)

Arabba = 2.25 hours (160km)

Verona Airport transfer times:

Selva = 2.25 hours (190km)

Ortisei = 2.00 hours (183m)