A snowy episode affects Côtes-d'Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine this Thursday, November 21. The two departments are placed on orange alert for snow-ice by Météo France, which predicts up to 10 centimeters of snow on the ground. It is advisable to exercise the greatest caution when leaving your home, whether on foot, by bike or by car, as the phenomenon has consequences on Breton roads.
Departmental agents on deck
This is the case during each snowy episode, 13 patrollers were active all night in Ille-et-Vilaine. They are the eyes of the department, and can at any time call for reinforcements in the event of heavy snowfall or the presence of ice. A dozen trucks, made up of three agents each, can be mobilized from 6 a.m. To scrape snow if necessary, or salt the roads and allow traffic in complete safety. However, it is strongly recommended to drive very carefully. As a reminder, it is prohibited to overtake trucks securing roads.
Since 4 a.m. this morning, patrollers from the departmental council have been crisscrossing the Côtes-d'Armor department to identify where the salt spreaders could be sent. One of our reporters accompanied one of them.
Difficulty points on the roads
The state of the roads is closely monitored by departmental services to provide early warning in the event of danger, particularly the risk of loss of grip. On the website of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, a first alert for “delicate” traffic conditions was issued on the Rennes – Saint-Malo axiswhere patrol officers were present this Thursday morning.
Traffic restrictions
In anticipation of traffic difficulties, Amaury de Saint-Quentin, the prefect of Brittany, took measures to restrict and prohibit the movement of heavy goods vehicles in the departments affected by the orange snow-ice vigilance. As of 6 a.m. this Thursday morning, the
vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVWR) greater than 7.5 tonnes are not not authorized to carry out overtaking maneuvers et their maximum authorized speed is lowered by 20 km/h on all axes of the national road network (national roads and motorways).
School transport maintained for the moment
School transport and buses are currently not impacted. On its website, BreizhGo nevertheless warns that “BreizhGo coach movements could be impacted by weather conditions. »
Prevention measures
The different prefectures relay preventive measures to avoid congesting certain roads and create accidents or excess accidents:
- Postpone any non-urgent travel if traffic conditions are poor
- Before leaving, clear your car windows of any presence of snow or frost.
- Find out about traffic conditions before hitting the road
- Adapt your speed to traffic conditions
- Adopt prudent driving by considerably increasing safety distances and opt for very smooth driving without using the steering wheel, accelerator or brakes
- Facilitate the passage of snow removal and salting equipment. Please note that overtaking these vehicles is prohibited.
- Throughout your journey, make sure your vehicle’s signal lights are clean.
