Abstract. This study deals mainly with the importance of the N 1-Highway as a factor in industrial site-decisions. Betv/een Bern-Wankdorf and Rothrist (58 km) 82 firms around 9 interchanges were interviewed. For 32 of which the highway was the main factor in site decision, for 20 it was only one among other factors influencing site selection. 30 firms depend in no way upon the N 1.
Construction of 52 highways-influenced enterprises offers 3348 new Jobs; on the other hand, agricultural land use lost 183,8 hectars to industrial development. Economic impacts of the N 1 concentrate on the N 1/N 2-crossing (Egerkingen) and around the two interchanges next to Bern.
During the planning-period, the importance of highway-accessibility for economic development and the traffic generated by new firms were heavily underestimated. A strict control of land use around the interchange areas and studies about the relationship between highways and the spatial alignment of population and industries are therefore very urgent.