Roadblocks Austria: What Italy vacationers need to know!

Since the summer of 2019, travelers through Austria have been prevented from exiting the autobahn. But that doesn’t really matter to most holidaymakers in Italy: the Brenner Landstraße, the most important bypass of the toll motorway, is not affected by the ban at all. It is also more comfortable on the Brenner Autobahn anyway.

We travel to Tyrol, the Alps and Italy several times a year and, based on current information and our experience of the main traffic routes, summarize the most important points for holidaymakers in Italy and Austria! We also give an overview of the closed country roads in Austria.

Brenner federal road is not affected at all

The driving ban on country roads in Austria is sometimes very dramatized. From our point of view, only the Brenner Landstraße / Bundesstraße, the B 182, is interesting for travelers to Italy, if at all. It saves you the toll for the Europabrücke (9.50 €) and the Austrian part of the Brenner autobahn. The “Brenner Street” is fortunately exempt from the driving ban. Accordingly, you can use it at any time in traffic jams on the motorway or if you want to save on the toll. Incidentally, the Fernpassstraße (B 179) is also not affected by the driving bans.

driving ban only at weekends!

From our point of view, this is the most important point: All bans only apply at one time anyway from Saturday 7 a.m. to Sunday 7 p.m. In addition, the ban only applies until September 14th, i.e. the end of the summer holidays in Bavaria. We have been recommending for years, if at all possible, not to drive on weekends. If you can travel on Fridays, Mondays or even more during the week, you will arrive a hundred times more relaxed due to the significantly lower traffic volume! Trucks are on the road here, but there are hardly any columns of left-wing drivers in southern Bavaria.

These roads are closed (incl. road maps)

All motor vehicles with destination Italy:

• B171a Tiroler Straße, beginning at km sign 20.863, Hall – Ast Tulfes in FR Tulfes
• L38 Ellbogener Straße, start at km sign 0.00 Ampass roundabout Houses in FR Ampass
• L38 Ellbogener Straße, beginning 105 meters after the km sign 10.250 in FR Ellbogen
• L38 Ellbogener Straße, beginning at km sign 11.750 in FR Ellbogen
• L11 Völser Straße, Völser Straße/Kranebitter Straße roundabout in FR West (Kematen in Tirol)
• L11 Völser Straße, roundabout Völser Straße/Kranebitter Straße in FR East (Innsbruck)
• L13 Sellraintalstraße, start of exit roundabout Völser Straße/Sellraintalstraße in FR south (Sellraintal)
• L394 Axamer Straße, beginning 20 meters after km sign 0.000 in FR Axams (Kematen in Tirol)
• Rothenbrunn municipal road immediately after the intersection with the L13 Sellraintalstraße in FR Axams (Sellrain)
• Municipal road Nösslach (Gst.Nr. 1561/1, KG Gries am Brenner) in FR south
• L283 Bleichenweg, beginning 42 meters after km sign 0.750 in FR south (Ampass)
• L9 Igler Straße junction Innsbruck Mitte, beginning at the exit from the Innsbruck Mitte roundabout in FR West (Vill/Igls)
• L32 Schlossstraße, junction Innsbruck Mitte, start at the exit from the Innsbruck Mitte roundabout in FR East (Aldrans)

All motor vehicles with destination Germany:

• Municipal road Nösslach (Gst.Nr. 1561/1, KG Gries am Brenner) in FR north
• L38 Ellbogener Straße, beginning at km sign 22.578 in FR north
• L38 Ellbogener Straße, beginning 68 meters after km sign 10.250 in FR north
• L226 Natterer Straße, start at km sign 0.00 in FR Natters
• L227 Mutterer Straße, beginning at km sign 0.00 in FR Mutters

On the official website of the state of Tyrol there is also Maps with the self-drawn closures in the direction of travel to Italy and in the direction of travel to Germany.

How is it checked?

Mobile patrols are to control departures. Anyone who has a comprehensible reason – such as a credible visit to friends or a mountain tour – is allowed to leave the motorway. Since the motorway exits should not actually be closed (but controlled), it is basically possible to drive off.

Why are the country roads closed?

The corresponding streets are closed to “national through traffic”. This is intended to relieve the places along the country roads in terms of traffic and noise. The main concern for Austria and ASFINAG should of course be to no longer allow toll bouncing. The toll in Austria is not exactly cheap, especially on the Brenner route (costs: vignette + special toll on the Europabrücke), but is still moderate compared to France or Switzerland. From our point of view, driving on the Brenner motorway is always more relaxed than the alternatives on country roads. If you book the toll online via video toll, you can quickly get past the toll stations (e.g. Schönberg toll station) even when there is a lot of traffic.

All information can also be found on the official website of the state of Tyrol.