Reactions to ‘no’ vote on Swiss motorway expansion project

On Sunday, a majority of Swiss voters (52.7%) rejected a CHF5 billion government plan to extend key stretches of the motorway network. SWI swissinfo.ch gathered voters' reactions in the capital Bern.

The project, which initially had wide support from the government, parliament, the business community and centre and right-wing parties – the Swiss People’s Party and the Radical-Liberal Party – would have involved widening or building new roads at six key points on the country’s motorway system, notably near Bern, and on a busy stretch between Geneva and Lausanne.

The arguments of environmental groups and parties on the left (the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party), who criticised the cost (CHF5 billion) of the project while questioning its effectiveness in reducing traffic congestion, probably carried more weight with voters. Supporters of the project had argued that the expansion plan would help solve traffic jams on the outskirts of the big Swiss cities.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg/sb