Traffic will be particularly difficult between Friday and Sunday, specifies the service.
Motorists wishing to go to their vacation spot on the occasion of the July 14 bridge will have to be patient. Smart Bison is indeed planning busy roads throughout the second part of the week. This is one of the most difficult periods of the whole month, after a weekend of July 9 and 10 already marked by major traffic jams.
If Tuesday should be calm, from Wednesday July 12, in the direction of departures, the service attached to the Ministry of Ecological Transition expects a “difficult circulation“everywhere in France, and even”very difficultin the Île-de-France region. Conversely, the axes should be fluid in the direction of the returns. Significant traffic jams are planned “to leave the big cities“and traffic should be complex”from early afternoon to early evening“.
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To avoid traffic jams, Bison Futé advises motorists to leave Île-de-France before noon and to avoid driving to or from major cities all afternoon. Between 2 p.m. and early evening, the A10 should be loaded between Orléans and Tours, as well as the A11 between Paris and Le Mans and the RN157 between Laval and Rennes. Traffic should be heavy at the Saint-Arnoult toll, between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m., with a peak between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
The situation should become more fluid on July 14: on the occasion of the national holiday, only the Ile-de-France region will be classified in orange, in the direction of departures to resorts. The rest of the territory will be quieter. On that day, it is better to leave Île-de-France before 8 a.m.
Lots of people on the roads at the weekend
The peak of traffic jams should take place between Friday and Sunday, according to forecasts by Bison futé. On Friday, a new wave of departures will take place: traffic will be difficult throughout the territory, and very difficult on the Mediterranean coast. The A6, A7 and A9 motorways should be particularly congested, and it is best to avoid the A31, A10, A8, A9 and A63 during the afternoon. The Mont-Blanc tunnel will also be busy between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m., even very busy from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Same observation on Saturday July 16: France is entirely red, in the direction of departures, and orange, in the direction of returns. “All of the country’s major routes” are concerned, congesting the roads from the morning “and this until the middle of the afternoon”: towards the resorts, “slowdowns and traffic jams are expected, in particular, on the A10 motorway towards Bordeaux, in the Rhône valley on the A7 motorway, then on the A8 and A9 motorways along the Mediterranean“says Smart Bison. In the other direction, significant difficulties are also expected, especially on the A7, A9, A75, A61 and A62.
Unsurprisingly, the situation will be reversed on Sunday: driving from holiday resorts will then be “very difficult” and “hard” in the other direction. In the first case, the plugs will be particularly massive on “the A10 and A11 motorways in the western zone of the country, A7 and A43 in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and on the Mediterranean Arc, in particular on the A9, A61 and A62 motorways“. In the second case, “the main difficulties are expected in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in particular on the A7 motorway and towards the Mediterranean on the A9 and A62 motorways“, according to the government service. The axes between Lyon and Orange then Marseille, between Bayonne and Spain and between Bordeaux and Toulouse risk being heavily congested, as well as those joining Paris.
Also note: the July 14 bridge will also be an opportunity for certain territories to host the Tour de France, making traffic even more difficult in these areas. The competition will thus pass through Albertville on July 13, then through Briançon and Alpe d’Huez on Thursday, through Le Bourg d’Oisans and Saint-Etienne on Friday, before going to Mende on Saturday and between Rodez and Carcassonne on Sunday. Vacationers are warned…
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