Garmisch-Partenkirchen (dpa / lby) – The anger about closures and traffic jams does not end for the people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen even after the G7 summit. On the day many police officers left, an important tunnel in the region was closed. Long traffic jams formed on Wednesday. Speculation quickly spread that US President Joe Biden’s departure the day before might have something to do with it. Several media reported on the speculation.
The Farchant tunnel was completely closed on Tuesday afternoon due to a fault in the radio system, which is important for the rescue concept, as the state building authority in Weilheim announced on Wednesday. Biden had previously driven through the tunnel with his column. “It’s actually interesting that shortly after he drove through there, there were problems with the system,” said Christoph Prause from the German Press Agency’s construction department. However, one sees “no technically logical connection that this comes from that.”
In a statement, the building authority spoke of a “massive disruption to radio traffic in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area”. The statement did not mention whether the Biden convoy was to blame for the interference signal on the safety frequencies for the fire brigade, police and rescue workers. In the President’s convoy, so-called jammers emit powerful radiation so that nothing in the area can be remotely detonated.
In order to resolve the traffic jams, the tunnel should be opened briefly during peak traffic times and then closed again. “This opening procedure is particularly beneficial for commuters and the Farchant community and is intended to ease the local traffic situation. At the same time, this procedure must be used until the technical fault has been resolved,” the statement said.
