Relief for European hauliers as Frejus tunnel reopens and Mont Blanc closure to be shorter
As European hauliers will no doubt be aware, a dramatic landslide in late August resulted in France's Frejus tunnel being closed to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. That then sparked long queues at the Mont Blanc tunnel, which had been due to close in early September for repair works. Due to the limited amount of alternative routes, the closure of Mont Blanc was postponed, and we now know that the 14-week repair work at the tunnel won't be conducted until next year. Meanwhile, the Frejus tunnel has reopened to HGV traffic.
As European hauliers will no doubt be aware, a dramatic landslide in late August resulted in France's Frejus tunnel being closed to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. That then sparked long queues at the Mont Blanc tunnel, which had been due to close in early September for repair works. Due to the limited amount of alternative routes, the closure of Mont Blanc was postponed, and we now know that the 14-week repair work at the tunnel won't be conducted until next year. Meanwhile, the Frejus tunnel has reopened to HGV traffic.
The 14-week repairs have been postponed by a year “due to the complexity of the project”.
However, other maintenance work planned at the tunnel this year, which is estimated to require a closure of 7 weeks, will take place.
This closure for these works is not planned before the end of this week.
According to Mont Blanc Tunnel, additional assessments are being carried out, and the precise planning of the work, as well as the closure timetable, will be determined “as soon as possible”.
Photo: Kleszczu at Polish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons