Weekend of August 15: already 700 kilometers of traffic jams recorded by Bison futé on the roads of France

Once again, vacationers will have to be patient. This weekend of August 15 promises to be very complicated on all the roads in France. At 12 p.m. Saturday, around 700 kilometers of traffic jams were listed by Bison futé. A figure classified as “unusual” by the traffic monitoring website. Their number increased very quickly from 10 a.m. onwards. For the moment, the slowdowns are mainly concentrated in the south of the country, around the Rhone corridor and the Mediterranean axis. In recent days, Bison futé had warned: “The waves of returns (from vacation, Editor’s note) will spread over the entire weekend.” Adding that “from this weekend, returns will take precedence over departures”.

In detail, the A9 motorway is the most affected. Between the Spanish border to the south and Orange to the north, no less than 90 km of traffic jams are recorded. For people continuing towards Lyon, the situation is unlikely to improve once they leave this route. The A7, linking Lyon to Marseille, is also overloaded. In total, traffic jams extend over 87 km. The situation is also tense on many other motorways such as the A10 (60km) or the A71 (40km). Although Brittany does not have any of these expressways, it is not spared from slowdowns. No less than 53 km of traffic jams await motorists on the N165, linking Nantes to Brest.

“Most traveled” day

Saturday August 15 will be the “most busy” day of the weekend, notes Bison Futé. In terms of departures and returns, the whole of France is classified red. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is even classified black in the direction of departures, indicating “extremely difficult” traffic. There will therefore be a lot of people on the roads this Saturday across the entire road network in the region, from morning to evening.

In terms of returns, Bison Futé specifies that “journeys from the Mediterranean rim towards Île-de-France will be particularly numerous”. In Île-de-France, still in the direction of returns, the public road information service anticipates volumes at the various toll gates “higher than on Saturdays in previous weeks”.

Sunday August 16, the main traffic congestion will be located in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and in the Mediterranean Arc - particularly from and to Île-de-France -, classified orange in the direction of departures and returns. It will also be difficult to cross the Massif Central.