France on alert for summer jams

WITH schools breaking up for the grandes vacances the traditional summer weekend traffic jams are already getting under way...

Traffic conditions service Bison Futé has called orange or red alerts across the country today and tomorrow in the ‘direction of departures’ – that is, on the main roads and motorways heading towards the south and other coastal resorts.

It advises leaving your departure for Sunday if you have a choice.

Jams in the summer are nothing new for France – they used to be notorious on the old RN7, or Route Bleue (see this month’s Connexion for more on this) – but the situation does not seem to be improving much. Last year saw a record 1,000km of jams on the main road networks at lunchtime on August 2.

That weekend, which sees the July holidaymakers (juillettistes) coming back and the August ones (aoûtiens) heading off, tends to be the worst, but this weekend with the first big departures is also a major one for jams.

A warning has also been put out for motorcyclists in the Meuse to take extra care and reduce speeds, because roads are starting to melt in the heat.

The situation remains problematic in the Calais area, where there have been severe road blockages this week as ferry services stopped due to protests by MyFerryLink workers (see previous articles), however things have eased compared to before as negotiations take place between the protesters and government. The main union has said it is calling off action until at least Tuesday.

P&O Ferries are running slightly more frequently than normal, to ease the congestion and the Channel Tunnel is open, however DFDS crossings are still halted between Dover and Calais with the company focusing instead of its Dover to Dunkirk routes which has extra crossings in a bid to compensate.

More detailed advice from Bison Futé is as follows:

Today (Friday)
Orange alert everywhere apart from Ile-de-France, which is red. Avoid leaving the large urban areas between 15.00 and 19.00 (11.00 to 20.00 in Ile-de-France) and between the same times also avoid travelling through Lyon, on the A7 in the Rhône Valley, the A10 at Orléans and the A71 at Vierzon.

Saturday
Red in Ile-de-France and Rhône-Alpes, orange elsewhere. Avoid leaving Paris or crossing it between 7.00 and 15.00. Also avoid the motorways in the northern half of France from 11.00 to 14.00 and the southern motorways from 9.00 to 15.00, crossing Lyon or the Rhône Valley from 9.00 to 18.00, the Bordeaux rocade (motorways around the city) from 10.00 to 16.00 and the A63 from Bordeaux to Spain from 11.00 to 18.00.

Sunday
Green across the country apart from in Paris, which is orange and where it is advisable not to leave between 10.00 and 14.00. Jams are notably expected on the A86 between Thiais and Fresnes and on the A10 up to Ulis.