Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
The Gotthard Road Tunnel on Switzerland’s A2 is closed overnight from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Monday evening through Friday morning, September 14 to 18, 2026. Touring Club Suisse lists those four nights as the current maintenance window and, as of Monday, showed live queues of about 3 kilometers northbound and 4 kilometers southbound.
If you are driving between northern Europe and Italy after dark this week, do not count on the 16.9-kilometer tube. Plan a daylight crossing, wait for the weekend gap, or take the San Bernardino A13. Drivers heading for the lakes can still use that extra daylight to reach Lake Como without sitting in a night blockade.
- When: 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., Monday evening through Friday morning, September 14 to 18, 2026.
- Where: Gotthard Road Tunnel, A2 between Goschenen (Uri) and Airolo (Ticino).
- Now: TCS showed about 3 km and 30 minutes northbound, 4 km and 40 minutes southbound on Monday.
- Also this week: Daytime lane narrowing on the A2 between Wassen and the tunnel, both directions.
- Next nights: September 21 to 25, then September 28 to October 2, then October 5 to 7.
What Is Closed Tonight
TCS flags the September 14 to 18 block as current, not a preview. The club’s Gotthard page lists four nights, Monday evening to Friday morning, each from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Weekends stay open. That means the tunnel should reopen Friday morning, September 18, and remain available through the weekend before the next weekday series starts September 21.
ADAC, Germany’s automobile club, places the same autumn series on the A2 Lucerne to Chiasso axis and says the 2026 night-closure season began Monday, September 7. The German club treats the work as routine cleaning and maintenance, not an emergency shutdown. Drivers still have to treat each listed night as a hard closure, not a maybe.
The tube itself is 16.9 kilometers long and opened in 1980. ADAC says about six million vehicles use it each year, which is why it is one of Switzerland’s most reliable traffic traps when anything reduces capacity. A night closure removes the entire north-south road link, not one lane.
Daytime Lanes Are Tight Too
TCS also lists daytime construction on the A2 between Wassen and the Gotthard tunnel in both directions during this same September 14 to 18 window. That is a separate, daylight restriction: a worksite, a narrowed carriageway, and slower running even while the tunnel is technically open.
Do not assume a 10:00 a.m. departure solves the problem. A daytime squeeze plus the usual Gotthard queue can still cost 30 to 40 minutes before you reach the portal. TCS’s Monday snapshot already showed those waits with the tunnel open. Add a trailer, a height check, or a rain shower and the same stretch becomes a two-hour crawl.
Wednesday nights add a second, shorter closure. TCS warns that the tunnel is closed from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Wednesdays for special-transport windows, independent of the four-night maintenance series. The Swiss Federal Roads Office ASTRA uses that same Wednesday window for oversize loads. If you are rolling through midweek after 11:00 p.m., check that extra gap before you leave the last services area.
How to Reroute Around the Alps
ADAC’s first alternative is the San Bernardino route on the A13 from Chur to Bellinzona. That is the standard large-scale detour when the Gotthard Road Tunnel is shut. It is longer, and it fills up when everyone else has the same idea, but it is a real motorway-standard option in a way the mountain pass is not.
The Gotthard Pass road can work in dry weather as a scenic, slower bypass. ADAC says it is a poor choice for vehicles with camping trailers and that the pass closes in the cold season. For this mid-September window the pass is typically still open, but it is not a freight or motorhome shortcut. The Simplon route is the third option ADAC names when the other two are overloaded.
Heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are often held 30 minutes before a night closure at both portals. If you are in a camper or a rental van, treat that as a hard stop, not a suggestion. Passenger cars can sometimes be sent over the pass. Do not invent a third-country continuation. This is a Switzerland to Italy road problem, not an air or rail substitute unless you already hold train tickets.
Later September Nights Still on the Calendar
After this week’s block, TCS still lists three more autumn series: September 21 to 25, September 28 to October 2, and October 5 to 7, each Monday evening to Friday morning from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. except the last, shorter October 5 to 7 set. Plan any remaining Italy drives around those dates now, not after you are already in Uri.
The September 7 to 11 series has already run. If you crossed last week at night, you already met this pattern. This week’s 8:00 p.m. start is earlier than some June and early-September windows that began at 10:00 p.m. Leave more buffer than you did in March.
ADAC notes that weekends and peak holiday periods are kept free of these maintenance nights. That is the useful booking rule: overnight Friday, Saturday, and Sunday remain the clean Gotthard window until the next Monday evening.
Weekend Windows Stay Open
If your Italy week can slide by 12 hours, the cheapest fix is to drive Friday after 5:00 a.m. or to wait until Saturday morning. The tunnel is built for that weekend surge, and TCS’s own calendar keeps those nights off the closure list. If you cannot wait, leave in daylight Monday through Friday and accept the Wassen worksite.
Refresh TCS before you roll. Queue lengths change by the hour, and a 40-minute southbound wait at 11:00 a.m. can be a 90-minute wait at 4:00 p.m. The club’s Gotthard page carries both portals’ webcams and the full 2026 night list. Use that page, not a screenshot from last June.
This is scheduled maintenance, not a surprise rockfall. The traveler job is still immediate: tonight’s 8:00 p.m. closure is real, the next four weekday nights match it, and the San Bernardino A13 is the default detour if you must move after dark.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Must cross Monday to Thursday after 8:00 p.m. | Skip the Gotthard Road Tunnel. Use the A13 San Bernardino or wait until after 5:00 a.m. |
| Can shift into daylight | Drive 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., but budget extra time for the Wassen daytime worksite. |
| Can wait for the weekend | Cross Friday after 5:00 a.m. through Sunday. Those nights are not on the closure list. |
| Are towing a trailer or driving a heavy camper | Do not use the Gotthard Pass as a night bypass. Prefer A13, or stop before 8:00 p.m. |
8:00 p.m. tonight is the first gate. The September 14 to 18 series is in force. Do not arrive at Goschenen or Airolo after that hour expecting to roll through.
Friday 5:00 a.m. September 18 is the weekend reopen. Use it if you can park the car Thursday night and roll at dawn.
September 21 is the next weekday series. The same 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. pattern repeats unless TCS posts a change.
Is the Gotthard Tunnel closed tonight?
Yes, from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on the nights of September 14 to 18, 2026, according to Touring Club Suisse. Weekends are not in this block.
What is the best detour if I have to drive after dark?
ADAC’s first alternative is the San Bernardino A13 from Chur to Bellinzona. The Gotthard Pass is a slower fair-weather option and a poor one for trailers.
Are there more closures after this week?
TCS still lists September 21 to 25, September 28 to October 2, and October 5 to 7, plus a weekly Wednesday 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. special-transport gap.
Can I use the tunnel during the day this week?
Yes, outside the night window, but TCS also flags daytime construction between Wassen and the tunnel in both directions from September 14 to 18. Budget extra time.
