A closed tunnel but not two. France and Italy decided on Thursday to postpone the long closure planned from Monday for maintenance of the Mont-Blanc tunnel. The objective is to avoid congesting road traffic after the closure of the Fréjus tunnel following a landslide in Savoie, explained Italian ministerial sources.
Matteo Salvini, Italian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of transport, and his French counterpart Clément Beaune agreed that “the Mont-Blanc tunnel will not close on Monday”. The works will be “probably postponed to September 2024”, said these sources to the Italian Ministry of Transport.
The risk of a “blockage”
The Mont-Blanc tunnel was to be closed to traffic from September 4 to December 18 for heavy maintenance work. Hundreds of light vehicles and trucks pass through it every day, as well as through the Fréjus tunnel. But this was prohibited for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes last week and until further notice, after a spectacular landslide of rocks in the Maurienne valley (Savoie), a major axis between France and the Northern Italy.
And from Rome pressed Paris to postpone the closure of the Mont-Blanc tunnel in order to avoid blocking trucks and forcing them to bypass Ventimiglia, further south. “The Fréjus tunnel is closed due to the landslide, Mont-Blanc risks closing due to works, the Gotthard tunnel [en Suisse] also after a derailment. We really risk a blockage, “Matteo Salvini was alarmed earlier Thursday.
Alternative routes for heavy goods vehicles
“The objective is to reopen Fréjus as soon as possible but I have asked [à mon homologue français Clément Beaune] the favor of postponing the work on Mont-Blanc, otherwise it will be chaos, ”he added. According to Italian ministerial sources, the formal decision on the postponement of the Mont-Blanc work will be taken on Monday during an intergovernmental meeting.
According to a press release from the Haute-Savoie prefecture dated Wednesday, traffic conditions are currently “very difficult” at the Mont-Blanc tunnel, with waiting times for heavy goods vehicles of up to 4.5 hours. The prefect thus invites heavy goods vehicle drivers to take “the recommended alternative routes (towards the A8 and Ventimiglia) and for all users, when possible, to postpone travel in the sector”.