Great St Bernard Tunnel

The Great St Bernard Tunnel is a road tunnel complementing the Great St Bernard Pass, linking Martigny in the Swiss canton of Valais/Wallis with the Val d'Aosta in north western Italy. There is a toll to use the tunnel, payable in full even for drivers who already display on their vehicles a Swiss Autobahn vignette. The tunnel comprises a section of the E27 route linking Belfort with Aosta.

For most of its 5,798 meter's length the tunnel runs in a straight line, but incorporating a gentle slope. The northern end is 1,918 meters above sea level while the southern end is only 1,875 meters above sea level. At both ends, the approach road to the tunnel is covered by a gallery / avalanche shelter in order to minimize the risk of access to the tunnel being temporarily blocked during bad weather. Any frontier formalities are handled at the tunnel's north end, although the actual national frontier is 2,938 meters from the Swiss tunnel entrance and 2,860 meters from the Italian entrance.

The name of the tunnel comes directly from that of the Grand St Bernard Pass, and thereby indirectly from the saint who in 1049 founded the hospice high above the tunnel, that also bears his name. Tourists on the Swiss side additionally find themselves reminded by road side billboards of the saint's association with St Bernard dogs.

History

Before the tunnel was constructed, the frontier was passable here only using the Great St Bernard Pass. The pass remains an option in summer, but is normally closed by snow between October and May, and sometimes for longer. The tunnel is intended to be usable for 365 days every year.

The tunnel was opened to traffic on 19th March 1964, having been under construction since 1958. The approach roads have been progressively improved, and most recently the avalanche covers extended on the southern side. The Mont Blanc tunnel tragedy of 1999 prompted a major review of road tunnel safety in several countries including Switzerland, and significant safety upgrades are planned for the Grand St Bernard Tunnel. A speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is already in force inside the tunnel.

Access and popularity

The tunnel itself, and most of the connecting road between Aosta and Martigny are only single carriageway roads, and for most big city destinations in Switzerland and Italy the toll free St Gotthard Tunnel and Simplon Pass offer more direct or at least faster routes. This and the toll ensure that, the Grand San Bernard Tunnel rarely suffers from the levels of holiday season congestion that plague the more popular Alpine crossing routes, however.