Description:

Shorter journey times for motorists travelling between Nantes and Bordeaux moved a step closer last week as the French Ministry of Transport announced the signing of financial protocols for a new section of autoroute – the A831 – which would extend over a length of 64 km (40 miles) between Fontenay-le-Comte in Vendée and Rochefort in neighbouring Charente-Maritime.

Thierry Mariani, Minister for Transport, Dominique Bussereau, President of General Council of Charente-Maritime and Retailleau Bruno, President of the General Council of the Vendée, signed a memorandum of understanding in terms of project funding for the A831 autoroute in which Pays de la Loire region will also participate.

The proposed route would effectively eliminate the existing ‘dog-leg’ on the French autoroute network for traffic travelling between Nantes and Bordeaux. Instead, traffic on the new A831 would follow a more direct westerly route, passing close to La Rochelle and skirting Rochefort before linking up with the existing autoroute A837 towards Saintes and ultimately connecting with the main A10 Paris-Bordeaux autoroute.

The project was first mooted in 2005 and a number of environmental studies have been carried out including one which will see a section of the new road proceeding over a viaduct 3.3 km in length because of the impact the route would have on the environment and wildlife.

The next step will be to award the concession to for the new route to the chosen autoroute company and it is expected that tenders will now be invited from interested parties for submission before the end of May.

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