Works announced to improve the A40 motorway

The ATMB (Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc) has recently announced major roadwork projects to begin in 2008 to improve access to and from the A40.

The most significant works for those living or visiting the Chamonix Valley are three new junctions on the A40. Work has already started at Passy to create a junction that means traffic going to and coming from Chamonix will be able to enter and exit at Passy. Similarly, there will finally be a junction north of Sallanches, meaning those descending from Chamonix will be able to get off the motorway at Sallanches and rejoin the road at the same point head back up the valley.

It is hoped these new junctions will massively reduce traffic on the RN205 as all traffic headed for the industrial estate and commercial centres in Passy and Sallanches currently leaves the motorway at le Fayet, a constant source of bottlenecks all year round.

The third new junction is at Bonneville east, making it possible to join and leave the motorway in the Geneva direction. This will help traffic coming to and from the airport to and from ski areas in the Grand Massif and Portes du Soleil.

Works on all three junctions are due to finish by the end of 2009.

As well as announcing these works, the ATMB published figures for traffic in 2007. Around 22,000 vehicles used the motorway every day, with 4850 vehicles using the Mont Blanc Tunnel. This was split down into 3210 cars, 1620 lorries and 42 coaches. This represented a 3.25% drop in the number of HGVs using the tunnel since 2006