In 2016, the Alpine Initiative handed over its archive (with annual reports and accounts, correspondence, files on actions and campaigns, topic dossiers and printed matter) to the Swiss Social Archives. The holdings can be consulted in the reading room of the Swiss Social Archive without any restrictions on use.
Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv
At Castello di Mesocco in Val Mesolcina in the Grisons, the Alpine Initiative and local environmental organizations Moesanovivibile and Leventinavivibile lit their traditional warning bonfire. The three organizations demanded the transfer of freight from road to rail, an Alpine Crossing Exchange and the scrapping of the planned second bore for the Gotthard road tunnel.
Die Alpenregionen haben die Notwendigkeit einer Alpentransitbörse bekräftigt und unterschreiben die iMonitraf-Resolution. Ebenso wird klar, dass die Schweiz mit dem Lötschberg- und Gotthard-Basistunnel einen zeitlichen Vorsprung hat und die Güterverlagerung von der Strasse auf die Schiene nicht an allen Alpenübergängen gleichzeitig erreicht werden kann.
The two chambers of the Swiss parliament showed their support for the Swiss transfer policy and again asked the Swiss government to negotiate an Alpine Crossing Exchange with the EU. They also demanded the building of a north-south rail corridor that can transport semitrailers with a height of up to 4m and urged the government to use its discretion to increase the kilometre-based HGV tax.
The Swiss government has decided to build a second bore, with one-way traffic in each bore. This decision is irrational because all the studies undertaken by the relevant authorities to date show that it would be feasible and also cheaper to renovate the tunnel without constructing a second bore. According to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu), a second bore would not necessarily improve safety.
On International Noise Awareness Day, the Alpine Initiative presented a study that shows that noise pollution in the Leventina and Reuss valleys would decrease significantly if fewer or no trucks were to drive through these areas. As of 2016 (when the Gotthard base tunnel opens), piggyback trains could transport HGV transit traffic during the renovation of the Gotthard road tunnel and maybe also subsequently.
The “For a sustainable and reliable south-north-link” coalition made its first official appearance in Bern. It comprises 14 organisations from the Swiss canton of Ticino as well as numerous individuals, and is coordinated by the Alpine Initiative. Their common goal is to maintain Ticino as a canton worth living in and to protect it from a further increase in HGV transit traffic. The coalition also explicitly supports the renovation of the Gotthard road tunnel without the construction of a second bore.
iMonitraf!-Konferenz: Die Regionen im Alpenbogen wollen gemeinsam die Zahl der Lastwagenfahrten reduzieren. Dieses Ziel möchten sie mit der Einführung einer Alpentransitbörse erreichen. Der gemeinsamen Absicht der Alpenregionen müssen in Bern und Brüssel konkrete Schritte folgen.
The author Franz Hohler has been supporting the Alpine Initiative for many years now. In 2011, he wrote a total of five articles on his hikes and treks for the Alpine Initiative’s “Echo” magazine.
Der bekannte Clown Dimitri, Mitglied der Alpen-Initiative, hat sich nach den nationalen Wahlen mit einem offenen Brief an die Mitglieder des Nationalrats und des Ständerats gewandt. Die Parlamentarierinnen und Parlamentarier sollen doch bitte dafür sorgen, dass die Alpen vor den Transitlastwagen geschützt werden.
Das Urner Stimmvolk widersetzt sich mit 56.9 % Nein-Stimmen einer Initiative der Jungen SVP und mit 68.6 % Nein-Stimmen dem regierungsrätlichen Gegenvorschlag. Beide Vorlagen forderten eine 2. Strassenröhre am Gotthard. Die Alpen-Initiative wehrte sich gegen beide Vorlagen und fordert vom Bund stattdessen einen Bahnverlad für Autos und LKWs, der auf die Regionen Rücksicht nimmt.