The new A355 bypasses Strasbourg, re-routing through-traffic away from the old motorway which crosses the city and will be converted into an urban boulevard.
By re-routing the through-traffic away from the A35 that runs through Strasbourg – now reclassified as the M35 and due to become a city boulevard – the new 24 km-long infrastructure decongests the Alsatian city and surrounding municipalities, improves air quality, and reduces noise pollution. It is estimated that it will save the region’s road users some 10 million hours of travel a year. The new motorway will also foster the uptake of shared transport solutions through its own facilities (electric vehicle charging stations, carpool parking, multimodal transport hub) and because it is a key component of the city’s sustainable mobility plan. Now that the western Strasbourg bypass is open, the city has been able to forbid heavy vehicle through-traffic on the M35, reduce speed limits and create a reserved lane for carpoolers and public transport.
The A355 set unprecedented environmental standards in terms of the biodiversity offsets and ecological transparency of its infrastructure (see Close-up, previous page).
● MOTORWAY STIMULUS PLAN AND MOTORWAY INVESTMENT PLAN
On the network’s other motorways, road widening projects carried out as part of the motorway stimulus plan are under way on the A10 (a 16 km section north of Orléans, between the junctions with the A19 and the A71, and a 24 km section south of Tours, between Veigné and Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine), on the A61 (sections located between the A61/A66 junction and the Port Lauragais services areas, as well as between the Lézignan-Corbières interchange and the A61/A9 junction at Narbonne, representing a total of 35 km), and on the A57 (a 7 km section between the centre of Toulon and the A57/A570 junction, as an extension from the motorway tunnel that crosses the city). Construction work on all these projects also always involves environmental improvements. Work on the A61, for example, includes the creation of 50 water treatment ponds, a 25 metre wide wildlife crossing and planted screens that guide birds and bats towards safe passages over or under the motorway.
In addition, as part of the motorway investment plan, VINCI Autoroutes continued to invest in a series
10% of the 3 million working hours devoted to the western Strasbourg bypass in north-east France involved vocational integration schemes.