Mr and Mrs Schmidli live in this house in Lucerne.
Mr Schmidli: "Where else could you find a sunnier situation and a spot where you have no one across from you? This is unique, isn't it? I have sun coming in from 7am until 8pm! It's great when you live in a city and can say 'I have a breathtaking view!'"
Mr Schmidli in his apartment.
The Käslin family live in Beckenried (canton Nidwalden).
Mr Käslin: "Lots of people think this is the way over the Gotthard, and they exit the highway and drive towards Seelisberg. They think the tunnel is the Gotthard tunnel. Then they come with their map of Europe and ask us for directions."
Mr Käslin with his children.
Mr Walker from Erstfeld, canton Uri, lives in a mobile home. He had to move from his farmhouse because of the highway. He could have moved into another farm building to the left of this picture, but that would have meant evicting an old woman.
"This farm belonged to my grandfather. It's been let out for quite a while now. If I had to tell the tenant to leave I think it would be the end for her. She loves working in the garden. The caravan is fine for me - I have enough space and the cars don't really bother me. It's just the headlights that are a nuisance sometimes. But there aren't many cars at night anyway."
Mr Walker.
Mr Campitiello runs but doesn't own this hotel in Rodi-Fiesso (canton Ticino). He lived here for one year.
"This house was built by people from Uri in the middle of the 16th century. They also built the road down through the gorge. Previously it was part of the Duchy of Milan. After the arrival of the people of Uri, travelling tradespeople had to pay customs duty here on goods and animals. This house was a customs point and a guesthouse."
Mr Campitiello.
The Oliveira family live in this house in Biasca.
"I used to live in a village in Portugal. It was small but quiet. When we first came here, we really did notice the noise of the highway - even at night when we were sleeping. Then you get used to it and you don't notice it anymore. We like it here because of the garden. The children never want to leave. If we do ever leave it will be to move to a home of our own."
Mrs Oliveira with her daughter.
The Duss family live in this house in Balerna.
"We liked the house, so we decided to buy it. We don't have a big problem with the noise. We can leave the windows open at night. What we hear most is the main cantonal road. We live on the ground floor so as to enjoy the garden."
The Duss son.
Photographer Jean-Pierre Grüter visited people who live near the north-south A2 highway.
The A2, which connects Basel and Chiasso, runs through a populated and yet mountainous area. In places it runs very close to people’s homes. The photo book Wohnort Autobahn (Benteli, 2010) explains the historical, cultural and social background of the people living along this road axis.
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.