The A2 (the Gotthard Motorway) is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It forms Switzerland's main north–south axis from

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

to Chiasso, meandering with a slight drift toward the east. It lies on the Gotthard axis and crosses the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. Opened in 1955 under the name "Road Lucerne-south", A2 is one of the busiest motorways in Switzerland. The A2 motorway leaves

heading south toward Olten, Sursee, Luzern, Stans, Altdorf,

Erstfeld Erstfeld is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History In 1962 a collection of four gold torques and three gold arm rings were discovered near Erstfeld. While the exact origin date is unknown, they are likely from the 4th cen ...

, Göschenen, Airolo,

Biasca Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera (district), Riviera in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as ''Aviasca'' in the ''Liber viventium'' of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it wa ...

, Bellinzona,

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

and reaches Chiasso. It intersects with the A1, A8, A13 and A14 motorways. The St. Gotthard Tunnel lies at the heart of the motorway and makes up its culminating point. With a maximum elevation of at the tunnel's highest point, the A2 motorway has the lowest maximum elevation of any direct north–south road through the Alps. Traffic jams stretching for kilometres on end are frequently found on both entrances of the tunnel, but more frequently on the northern flank. The difficulty with driving through the St. Gotthard tunnel is that it is a motorway tunnel with one lane per direction, but without a central reservation. So far, The Swiss government has decided to upgrade the second tunnel into a full road tunnel in order to allow for the necessary reconstruction of the first road tunnel. Once the works on the first tunnel are finished, the Swiss government plans to operate one single lane in each tunnel (northbound traffic in the newly constructed tunnel, southbound traffic in the renovated one) in order to maintain the current tunnel overall capacity, in compliance with the Swiss constitutional norm that forbids a further growth of the traffic capacity across the Alps. The reconstruction would have lasted for several years in any variant – one variant would push the traffic over the mountain pass, another proposed to load the vehicles onto trains with a new terminal, a third would close the tunnel for several months every year over time range of a decade. All of these have their drawbacks and the usage of the second tunnel was chosen as the best option to allow for the reconstruction. Further usage of both tunnels was subject to a popular referendum that was held in February 2016, where it was approved. The actual upgrade mining of the second road tunnel would last from 2020 to 2027 at a cost of 2.7 billion francs for the whole project including the following reconstruction of the first tunnel. Near

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, this motorway passes through the Sonnenberg Tunnel, which until recently was the world's largest nuclear

blast shelter A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from blasts and explosions, like those from bombs, or in hazardous worksites, such as on oil and gas refineries or petrochemical facilities. It differs from a fallout shelter, ...

List of Exits

Listed are exits heading south as of

Symbols: ↗ = exit (↘ = exit only; → = only when heading for Chiasso; ← = only when heading for

); ⇆ = main interchange; S = service area

Canton of Basel-Stadt

:''Border with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(German A 5)'' * ⇆ 1: ''(

Wiese interchange with motorway heading for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

)'' * ↗ 2: (←) Basel Bad Bahnhof * ↗ 3: Basel Wettstein * ↗ 4: Basel Breite, Birsfelden * ↗ 5: Basel City * ⇆ 6: ''(Hagnau interchange with J18 (Switzerland))''

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Delémont * ↗ 7: Pratteln, Schweizerhalle, Auhafen, Augst * S Pratteln

Canton of Basel Landschaft

* ↗ 8: Liestal * ↗ 9: ''( Augst interchange with A3)'' * ↗ 10: Arisdorf * ↗ 11:

Sissach Sissach () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and the capital of the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. History Sissach is first mentioned around 1225-26 as ' ...

* ↗ 12: Diegten * ↗ 13: (←) Eptingen

Canton of Solothurn The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn. History The village of ''Salodurum'' was founded in the time of t ...

* ↗ 14: Egerkingen

Canton of Aargau

* ⇆ 15: ''( Härkingen interchange with A1)'' * ↗ 16:

Rothrist Rothrist is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Zofingen (district), Zofingen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Originally an Alamanni settlement, the modern village of Rothrist i ...

Canton of Lucerne The canton of Lucerne ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Switzerland. It is located in the country's central, German-speaking Switzerland, German-speaking part. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the population included 57 ...

* ⇆ 17: ''( Wiggertal interchange with A1)'' * ↗ 18: Reiden * ↗ 19: Dagmersellen * ↗ 20: Sursee * ↗ 21:

Sempach Sempach is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sursee (Amt), Sursee in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Lucerne (canton), Lucerne in Switzerland. History It has retained some traces of its medieval appearance, ...

* ↗ 22: Rothenburg (planned) * ↗ 23: Emmen, Switzerland Nord * ⇆ 24: ''( Rotsee interchange with A14)'' * ↗ 25: Emmen Süd * ↗ 26: (→) Luzern Zentrum * ↗ 27: Luzern - Kriens * ↗ 28: Luzern - Horw

Canton of Nidwalden Canton of Nidwalden or Nidwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Stans. It is tradi ...

* ↗ 29: (→) Hergiswil * ↗ 30: (→) Lopper (planned) * ↗ 29: (←) Hergiswil * ↗ 31: (→) Stansstad * ↗ 32: Stans Nord * ↗ 33: Stans Süd * ↗ 34: Buochs * ↗ 35:

Beckenried Beckenried is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. History The first settlers in what would become Beckried were from Alamanni tribes that moved into the area over 2000 ...

Canton of Uri The canton of Uri ( ; ; ; ) is one of the cantons of switzerland, 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss ...

* ↗ 36: Altdorf * ↗ 37:

* ↗ 38: Amsteg * ↗ 39:

Wassen Wassen is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Uri, Uri in Switzerland. Geography , Wassen has an area of . Of this area, 12.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.2 ...

* ↗ 40: Göschenen

Canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...

* ↗ 41: Airolo * S Stalvedro * ↗ 42: Quinto * ↗ 43: Faido * ↗ 44:

* ⇆ 45: ''(Interchange with A13 to

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

)'' Bellinzona Nord * S Bellinzona * ↗ 46: Bellinzona Centro (planned) * ⇆ 47: ''(Interchange with A13 to

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

)'' Bellinzona Sud * ↗ 48: Rivera * ↗ 49:

Nord * ↗ 50: Lugano Sud * ↗ 51: Melide, Bissone, Morcote,

Campione d'Italia Campione d'Italia (; ) is a (municipality) of the Province of Como in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy. Located on the shores of Lake Lugano, it is an enclave surrounded by the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Ticino. At its closest, the encla ...

* ↗ 52:

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura di Mendris ...

* S Coldrerio * ↗ 53: Chiasso * ↗ 54: Chiasso Centro :''Border with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

''Italian A9

References

{{Reflist A02