LThe end of the work is well underway on the A63 between Ondres and Biarritz. The goal is to have everything completed by the start of summer and the holiday rush. Amélie Furgala, director of the Vinci Autoroutes Sud Atlantique Pyrénées network, and district manager Sébastien Gau, detail the latest news from the networks.
LThe end of the work is well underway on the A63 between Ondres and Biarritz. The goal is to have everything completed by the start of summer and the holiday rush. Amélie Furgala, director of the Vinci Autoroutes Sud Atlantique Pyrénées network, and district manager Sébastien Gau, detail the latest news from the networks.
1 A new coating on the tracks
Vinci Autoroutes will switch to summer mode in a few days, particularly on the A 63 in the south of Landes and the Basque Country. To accommodate summer traffic, the concessionaire is completing its work between Ondres and Biarritz. “We are redoing the roads with draining asphalt to improve safety, avoid runoff, and better absorb noise thanks to sound improvement,” indicates the district manager, Sébastien Gau.
60,000 tonnes of asphalt were spread over 18 kilometers in both directions of traffic. “Many construction sites are carried out at night to avoid inconvenience to users as much as possible,” adds Sébastien Gau. At the start of the school year, new asphalt will be laid around the Biriatou toll platform. There are now 4 electrical terminals in the Bidart area and 5 in the Labenne area. “The objective is to have an electric offer for heavy goods vehicles in the medium term,” warns Amélie Furgala, regional director of the Vinci Autoroutes network.
2 Traffic returns to its usual peaks
The Covid period is forgotten. For the past two years, the A63 has returned to its usual summer traffic, with traffic tripling in the middle of August. This year, uncertainty remains over the effects of the Olympic Games. Will more people leave Paris and the big cities to take refuge in the south of Europe and pass through Biriatou? Difficult to make projections, but Vinci Autoroutes expects it and will deploy the maximum of its services during this period, with the reinforcement of patrol services.
40 people will work daily to improve safety and cleanliness on the 66 kilometers of tracks (as well as the areas) which separate Saint-Geours-de-Maremne from Biriatou. As such, the concessionaire is organizing Road Safety Week from June 17 to 24 in order to raise users’ awareness of the risks incurred by patrol officers. It also plans a clearing campaign and a warning against forest fires.
3 The expanded Biarritz building
Vinci Autoroutes is undertaking major modernization work on its building in Biarritz. It must bring together the activities of the Anglet and Biarritz sites within a year. “We are re-examining all the spaces to accommodate 140 people compared to 80 today. Only the store remains at the Bayonne-sud interchange in Anglet. We are optimizing 3,000 m² of offices with a strong environmental component,” explains Sébastien Gau.
Photovoltaic panels on the roofs, rainwater collectors, renaturation, encouragement of soft mobility, creation of a refectory are among the developments carried out by local companies on this 2 hectare site near the La Négresse interchange.
