What are ‘M’ signs on French roads near my home?
Roads can be maintained by departmental or local authorities
The road signs can be found in several major cities
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Reader Question: I’ve been seeing more and more roads labelled ‘M’ when driving near my home in Tours. What does this mean?
If a road is identified with an ‘M’, it means that it is a route métropolitaine. These road signs are Blue, with a white ‘M’ on them.
The signs indicate that it is a public road that is managed and controlled by a local metropolitan authority, as opposed to national, departmental or communal authorities.
Approved as part of the 2010 laws introducing métropoles to France, it was part of plans to give cities greater control over regulations in their territory and nearby communes.
There are now 21 métropoles, including Bordeaux, Nice, Nancy, Strasbourg, and Tours among others.
What does it change for drivers?
This classification changes relatively little for drivers on the roads.
A route métropolitaine is legally treated as a voie communale in the Code de la voirie routière (the legal text managing road classifications).
This means that the local authorities of the métropole are in charge of maintaining and managing the road.
This includes maintenance, upkeep, the organisation of any necessary roadworks, and maintaining road safety (local police muncipale officers will patrol the streets).
Unless otherwise stated elsewhere, there are no specific rules that drivers need to follow.
Speed limits remain the same – 50 km/h in urban areas (although some built-up areas now have 30 km/h zones in place) rising to 80 km/h on other roads (similar to routes départementales).
As a reminder, some departmental roads have a speed limit of 90 km/h, but this is not the norm.
