Bad traffic weekend looms - these are the French roads to avoid
Extreme ‘black’ warnings raised due to combination of people returning from, and going on, holidays
Saturday will see traffic at its worse, with roads close to the capital especially impacted
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Traffic is set to be extremely busy in France this weekend as holidaymakers return in their droves from summer destinations to major cities.
Traffic watchdog Bison Futé has issued black warnings for ‘extreme’ traffic – the highest level possible – in parts of Normandy, Brittany, Hauts-de-France, Pays-de-La-Loire and Centre-Val-de-Loire regions on Saturday (August 17).
The rest of the country will see warnings at a red level, the second highest. This will also be the case on Sunday (August 18), with the entire country facing a red warning.
These heightened warnings are for journeys returning to major cities – in the north, red levels will also be in place for drivers departing from cities such as Paris for holiday destinations on the Normandy and Brittany coastlines.
“From this weekend onwards, the number of people heading back north will take precedence over those heading for the coastal regions,” the traffic watchdog says.
“The majority of traffic flows will be from the south of the country to the north. However, the waves of returning traffic will be spread out over all the days of the weekend, with greater traffic problems expected on Saturday 17 and Sunday August 18,” it adds.
Which roads will be most affected?
On Saturday, roads around Paris, in both directions, are expected to face the busiest traffic.
This predominantly includes the A13, as well as roads with physical toll booths close to the capital.
Roads in the north and north-west will face high levels of traffic throughout the day, from the early morning to late at night. This includes the A84, N165 and A11 routes.
Elsewhere, the A9, and A10 roads, going inbound towards their respective major cities will be very busy, especially between the hours of 12:00 and 20:00.
The A7 will see traffic in both directions, as late holidaymakers travel south from Lyon towards Orange. However, it will be more severe travelling towards Lyon.
Other busy roads will include the A63 and A75, in the south-west and Massif Central respectively.
In general, the same roads will also be busy on Sunday, flowing towards major cities. In addition, the A61 will face heavy traffic throughout the day.
Issues will generally start later in the day, and reach their worst between 13:00 and 22:00, as people try to spend as much time as possible at their holiday destination.
Local roads in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region will face congestion as holidaymakers return from rural areas.
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