French motorway that has been free for 40 years to reintroduce tolls
Stretch of motorway sees 50,000 passengers daily
Tolls elsewhere along the route will be modified
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A busy stretch of busy motorway used by many people to travel to Geneva and to access ski resorts is set to see tolls reintroduced after being free for 40 years.
The middle section of the A40 – between Saint-Julien-en-Genevois and Annemasse in eastern France – will see its toll reinstated on February 1, 2029. The previous tollbooth was removed in 1987.
Parts of the A40 motorway that runs between Mâcon and Passy already face tolls, but the busy middle section between these two cities is currently free.
It covers the section of the motorway closest to neighbouring Geneva (Switzerland).
Around 50,000 drivers use it everyday, many as part of their cross-border commute into the Swiss city, with these drivers avoiding the tolls elsewhere on the route.
Local residents and environmental groups fear the change will lead to drivers and commuters further congesting secondary roads in the area to avoid tolls, some of which are already at peak saturation.
However, departmental authorities in Haute-Savoie said the tolls would allow for ‘financial equilibrium’ in a press release on the measure.
Read more: Map shows location of new toll barrier-free motorways in France (attention you still need to pay)
What will new prices be?
The motorway is operated by two concessionaires, however the new tolls will fall in the section of the Autoroutes et tunnel du Mont-Blanc (ATMB), which manages several roads in the area.
The former toll at the Saint-Julien-en-Genevois exit will return, at an expected cost of €1.80 per vehicle (excluding HGVs, caravans and camping-cars, etc).
In turn tolls to the west and east will be modified.
To the west, the toll at Viry will be lowered to €1.80 - it currently costs €4.40.
Further east from Annemasse, the toll at Nangy will be reduced from €2.20 to €0.60.
However, those who have an AMTB télépéage (toll badge) may see their daily toll reduced to €0.94 on the new toll, depending on the type of subscription they have.
Read more: Motorway tolls increase in France in February
