A8 motorway (Switzerland)

A8
Location of the A8 in Switzerland
Route information
Length:	94 km (58 mi)
Highway system
Highways in Switzerland Motorways of Switzerland

Highways in Switzerland

The A8 motorway, an Autobahn in central Switzerland, is a divided highway connecting the Bernese Oberland and the Innerschweiz. It is part of the National Road N8. For the Canton of Obwalden, it is the lifeline that has allowed the settling of industrial firms in this historically predominantly agricultural region. Via the A8, speedy connections to the major economic centers in the Mittelland and the north–south transit axis A2 are now possible. For tourists, A8 opens up in the opposite direction: the large ski resorts in the Bernese Oberland and the tourism regions around the Brünig Pass and Interlaken.

The A8 provides a scenic route to the Lake Thun to Interlaken, passing the former Mystery Park and continues along the southern shore of Lake Brienz for Brienz BE, where it winds its way on up to the Brünig pass.

With many more corners, the north side of the pass extends down to Lungern, where a 3.5-kilometre-long (2.2 mi) bypass tunnel is currently under construction (scheduled completion 2012). It continues parallel to the Lake Lungern shoreline until the hamlet of Kaiserstuhl OW and then with a series of steep switchbacks drops down to Giswil. A 2.1-kilometre-long (1.3 mi) road tunnel, opened in Oct 2004, bypasses the village, considerably reducing the through-traffic and sparing travellers the long wait at grade level crossing of the Bruenigbahn in the village center. Next, just a few hundred meters after the Giswil tunnel comes the Zollhouse tunnel, a 417-m Cut-and-cover long stretch that straightens out a narrow section of road next to the Sarnen Lake (due to open in mid-2010). A few hundred meters further comes the portal to the next bypass tunnel, that of Sachseln, which, with its just over 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) length, is one of the longer single bore road tunnels in Switzerland. After the tunnel is Sarnen, where the road is expanded to a 4 lane divided highway. Built over a former military airstrip (along with bridge), it serves as a straight highway to Alpnach, while ahead Mount Pilatus rises. Finally, the road follows the edge of the Alpnachersee lake along the Lopper Tunnel portal. Via an elaborate series of sub-tunnels inside the mountain, this connects in both north and south directions with the A2 enabling travel north to Luzern and Germany beyond as well as south towards the Gotthard and Italy. The ability to turn off the A2 onto the A8 in the northbound direction was only added with the construction of the new Kirchenwald tunnel and a 2-kilometre-long (1.2 mi) single lane connecting tunnel (which turns off the A2 inside the mountain, loops over the top of the main A2 tunnel before emerging parallel to the A8 Lopper portal.