Travellers beware. As of midday on 30 July, more than 860 kilometres of cumulative traffic has built up in France as holidaymakers block up major French motorways on what is often called the “black weekend” for travel.
According to government road traffic watchdog Bison Futé, outbound journeys in France are currently ranked “black” and return journeys “red” with motorists facing major delays to their road travel plans.
July and August holiday makers have been slowed to a crawl all across the country during the busiest travel season of the year. Traffic is slightly lighter than last year, when some 880 kilometres of traffic jams formed along French roads.
As is typical during the summer months on French roads, the traffic is particularly severe in areas around the Rhône valley, where 150 kilometres of traffic jams have formed. Heading south, the Lyon to Orange journey time has more than quadrupled, now taking 5 hours and 20 minutes, as opposed to just an hour and a half.
Some traffic build-ups are beginning to improve. Traffic on the French A7, which runs North to South between Lyon and Marseille, has halved since the morning, falling from 141 kilometres at 11:00 to just 49 kilometres of traffic. Further south, which runs through the touristic area between Montpellier and the Spanish border, there are still 85 kilometres of traffic jams.
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The road situation in France has been severe since Friday, where some 753 kilometres of traffic jams were reported throughout the country. This is still improved compared to last year, where on this same Friday over 1,000 kilometres of traffic was reported.
It is expected that traffic jams will continue to improve on Sunday, with Bison Futé improving its outlook to “orange” for departure journeys. Return journeys may get worse for those travelling from the south-eastern regions of France.
Belgium travellers have been advised to postpone travel plans until Sunday due to the massive traffic jams across western and southern Europe.
