A8: new La Turbie / Beausoleil slip road now open
The slip road should help relieve traffic congestion - © VINCI Autoroutes
Christened “Monaco Est”, it is intended to make access to Monaco easier for the country’s 50,000 French commuters.
As every employee in the Principality knows only too well, the journey to work is a real headache, with too few trains and regular traffic jams on the motorway.
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One of the solutions to relieve traffic congestion was to create a new slip road, a project that has been postponed several times, linking La Turbie to Beausoleil. As Minister of State, Pierre Dartout, confirmed to our colleagues at Monaco-Matin, the green light was given to open the road to traffic at 6am on Wednesday 10 January.
After three years’ work, the slip road was inaugurated on Tuesday 9 January, with a number of leading figures from the Principality in attendance, including the Minister of State, the President of the National Council, Brigitte Boccone-Pagès, Blaise Rapior, Managing Director of Escota and member of the Vinci Autoroutes Management Committee, Hugues Moutouh, Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Jean-Jacques Raffaele, Mayor of La Turbie, Yves Juhel, Mayor of Menton and Charles-Ange Genesy, President of the Alpes-Maritimes Département.
Streamlining traffic
“This operation required a great deal of effort from us, but above all it’s proof that we can’t do anything without each other and that it’s absolutely essential to have this partnership, this relationship of close and trusted cooperation between the Principality, the Alpes-Maritimes Département, the métropole, the communauté d’agglomération and the French state, because the two key issues for Monaco’s development and for the Alpes-Maritimes Département are mobility and housing,” Pierre Dartout told Monaco Info.
It is estimated that up to 3,000 vehicles could use the new road every day, freeing up the A500 and therefore avoiding occasional Monaco tunnel closures. “The completion of this strategic project for Monaco and our region is the result of a common political will, shared by French and Monegasque elected representatives. The commissioning of this slip road is a further step towards better mobility between Monaco and the Alpes-Maritimes. Of course, we need to go further. I’m thinking in particular about starting work on the Cap d’Ail underpass and the roundabout at the foot of the Mont des Mules. But it is public transport that must be the primary focus of our efforts, such as a maritime shuttle service and an express metro between Nice and Monaco, which the Conseil National has been calling for,” said Brigitte Boccone-Pagès in a press release.
A project with a €6 million price tag
“It’s the end of a traffic headache in our village, La Turbie, exacerbated by our somewhat unique layout, with all our shops along the main road. Crossing the road is always a struggle between 7.30 and 9.30 am. (…) After 25 years of rejections, we almost thought this day would never come,” said Jean-Jacques Raffaele, with obvious satisfaction.
The slip road has an environmentally responsible aspect: “In terms of species protection, but also to reduce the project’s carbon footprint, we used low-carbon materials, particularly in the concrete and cement used to build the structures. There were protected species on the site, which had to be safeguarded during the works, either by isolating them or translocating them,” Blaise Rapior explained to Monaco Info.
Co-funded by the Principality to the tune of €2.14 million, the slip road will have cost €6.06 million excl. VAT. The Alpes-Maritimes Département, the Communauté de la Riviera Française and VINCI Autoroutes / Réseau Escota contributed €1.23 million, €200,000 and €2.48 million respectively. Users will have to pay a three-euro toll.