A13 Saint-Cloud tunnel closure, Digi Mart USA News (Hauts-de-Seine, France): Drivers will have to adapt for more than nine months. Starting November 16, the closure of the Saint-Cloud tunnel on the A13 will cause disruption, and the government intends to respond with several measures.
The Saint-Cloud tunnel in Hauts-de-Seine, on the A13 motorway toward Normandy, is due to close for more than nine months beginning November 16. Several measures have been planned for motorists.
“The idea is for things to go as smoothly as possible” on this route, which carries 80,000 vehicles per day, mainly residents of western Île-de-France who work in Paris, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said Thursday during a telephone briefing with journalists.
The Paris-Caen motorway will be closed toward the provinces between the Périphérique and the Vaucresson interchange until August 31, 2027, and in the province-to-Paris direction in July and August. The cause is the renovation of the northern tube of the Saint-Cloud tunnel.
The prefecture of the Île-de-France region said the reinforcement work is essential to guarantee the safety and durability of the century-old structure, which was built using older techniques. The minister said the work became indispensable because of the Line 15 metro project, whose tunnel-boring machine must pass beneath the tunnel during 2027.
The state advises motorists to use alternative routes, via the RN13 and A14 to the north and the RD910 and RN118 to the south, and hopes that about 20% of A13 users will switch to public transport, whose services will be strengthened, Tabarot said.
As announced by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who was elected in Eure, the A14, also west of Paris, will be free of charge Monday through Friday for the duration of the works. The state will compensate the concessionaire Sanef Paris Normandie for the lost revenue, the ministry said.
Tabarot did not rule out “financial measures” for users who would take the paid A86 duplex tunnel, as requested by elected officials in Yvelines. “We are open to the question,” he said, but “congestion difficulties” already exist in this 10 km tunnel, and “a significant tariff reduction …
risks worsening them by attracting more users.”
Heavy goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes will have to cross Île-de-France from the east via the Francilienne, and numerous road and rail works have been postponed to limit disruption.
“Longer travel times are nevertheless to be expected, particularly during evening peak hours,” the prefecture warned.
The works are expected to cost 35 million euros, according to the ministry.
