New Traffic Regulations on A8 and A93 Effective August 15

Starting August 15, municipalities along the A8 and A93 highways will be permitted to impose indefinite traffic restrictions. Only travelers with local destinations will be allowed to exit the highways.

This weekend is expected to see high traffic volumes, particularly as summer vacations conclude in Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Saarland, while Bavarian schools remain in session until the first week of September. Historically, the most congested routes have been on the A8 and the A93 leading through Inntal from the Austrian border. To mitigate this situation and prevent travelers from exiting the highway during traffic jams, the affected communities will implement new traffic bans beginning Friday, August 15, coinciding with the Mariä Himmelfahrt holiday in Bavaria. They will also have the authority to enforce these bans on additional days if necessary.

Specific exits affected on the A8 include Bad Aibling, Rosenheim-West, Rosenheim, Rohrdorf, Achenmühle, Frasdorf, Bernau a. Chiemsee, and Felden. On the A93, exits at Reischenhart and Brannenburg will also implement restrictions, requiring drivers to provide a local destination to exit in both directions. The ADAC has issued a warning that ignoring the prohibition signs (which indicate a ban on all vehicle types with a note for diversion traffic due to highway congestion) can result in fines of up to 50 euros for cars.

A significant change in policy has come from the Rosenheim District Office, which oversees many of the affected communities. With support from the Federal Ministry of Transport, these municipalities can now close eight local roads to through traffic on all holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This marks a departure from previous statements from the ministry, which had maintained that implementing exit bans akin to those in Austria was not legally feasible. Nevertheless, a solution has been reached, allowing local authorities to impose restrictions. The federal government remains responsible for closing highway exits.

In this new framework, the highway authority will assist by providing signage and LED boards to alert drivers on the highway, indicating that exiting for detours is futile due to local restrictions. Previously, drivers who attempted to avoid congestion ended up causing traffic issues within these communities instead of alleviating the situation on the highway.

Discussions are ongoing about whether similar measures could be applied in other heavily trafficked areas. An evaluation involving Austrian representatives is slated for late September, where the contentious topic of adding new lanes to improve traffic flow will be revisited. The ADAC supports this idea, although local opinions vary, and federal funding for any expansions would need to be approved.