Heavy traffic expected across France ahead of November 11 bank holiday
Road conditions are predicted to be particularly difficult around Ile-de-France this afternoon and on Sunday. Thursday’s holiday enables many to ‘faire le pont’ for a long weekend
Heavy traffic is expected across France this afternoon as people set off on bank holiday breaksDmitry Kalinovski / Shutterstock
France’s traffic forecasting service Bison Futé is warning of particularly heavy traffic this afternoon (November 10), as people set off for November 11 bank holiday breaks.
With this year’s national Armistice Day holiday falling on a Thursday, many people will have decided to faire le pont (literally: make a bridge) to the weekend by taking Friday off as well, so that they can enjoy an extended break.
Bison Futé has introduced an orange circulation difficile (difficult traffic conditions) alert for anyone setting off on trips across the whole of France today.
Pic: Bison Futé
In Ile-de-France this alert level has been upgraded to a red circulation très difficile warning, and anyone leaving the Paris region (or any other large city area in France) is advised to do so before 14:00 if possible, and avoid beginning their journey between 16:00 and 20:00
Paris will see “traffic jams which are worse than those observed on a normal Wednesday,” especially in the direction of the A1, A4, A10, A13 and A6 roads, as well as on the Boulevard Périphérique and the A86, according to Bison Futé.
Drivers are advised to avoid the A13 between Paris and Rouen from 16:00 until 18:00 and the A10 between Orléans and Tours from 16:00 and 19:00.
In the south of France, holidaymakers should avoid the A7 between Salon-de-Provence and Marseille from 16:00 and 18:00, the A8 between Aix-en-Provence and Brignoles or Cannes and Italy between 16:00 and 18:00 and the A9 between Orange and Narbonne from 16:00 until 19:00.
In the east of the country, it is the A43 between Lyon and Chambéry which will be especially busy from 16:00 until 19:00.
As everyone returns from their trips away on Sunday, November 14, traffic will be heavy once again around Ile-de-France, which has been placed under an orange alert.
“Traffic will be very heavy on the A10, A6 and A13 motorways in the direction of Ile-de-France, from the beginning of the afternoon until late in the evening,” Bison Futé states.
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The traffic information service has three levels of traffic alert beyond green, which designates normal conditions.
Orange is the next step up, followed by red and then black, which signifies circulation extrêmement difficile (extremely difficult traffic conditions).
