the A36 closed, power cuts in the Jura, dozens of road accidents

It was expected in Franche-Comté, the snow has just arrived in the territory on November 21, 2024. While precipitation is expected until tomorrow depending on the sectors, numerous gendarmerie interventions have taken place, including a more serious accident. severe.

The snow has returned to Franche-Comté since Thursday, November 21, with the Caetano depression. Placed on orange snow and ice alert since Wednesday, the region has been experiencing heavy snowfall since midday in Doubs, Haute-Saône and the Territoire de Belfort. The Jura, for its part, is on yellow-snow-icy vigilance. The Jura territory and the Doubs are also on wind yellow vigilance.

Due to poor traffic conditions due to snow and ice, highway 36 is closed in the Montbéliard-Besançon direction, between the Saint-Maurice Colombier toll and the Voujeaucourt exit.

Since 3:50 p.m., accidents have increased on the roads of Franche-Comté. A first traffic accident was reported between La Vrine and Valdahon, in Doubs. Traffic jams are present over several hundred meters. A second also took place near the Côte des Fourgs (Doubs), where two vehicles collided head-on.

But according to information from the Doubs gendarmerie, the most significant pileup took place in Aubonne. Amid bad weather, an ambulance caring for a patient was sandwiched on National Route 57 between a truck and a car. In all, there are around fifty interventions that should be noted in Doubist land.

Lesser results in Haute-Saône, with six traffic accidents caused by bad weather, including one serious, near Jussey. In the Territoire de Belfort, emergency services intervened seven times on the roads for minor accidents.

In the Jura, the elements also impacted the lives of residents. Many trees fell on the power lines, depriving nearly 3,000 Jura households of power around 5:30 p.m. An hour later, half of the glitches had been resolved. The remaining 1,500 power outages are located in the sectors of Saint-Claude, Clairvaux, Val-Surans, etc.

Announced in a press release, the Haute-Saône prefecture has implemented a zonal decree which limits vehicle speed. Thus, heavy goods vehicles are limited to 70 km/h on the entire national road 19 and 57 from this Thursday 1 p.m. to Friday November 22 10 a.m. They are also prohibited from overtaking maneuvers, such as changing lanes, when a traffic lane is covered with snow or ice.

For the four Franche-Comté departments, the prefectures are calling for caution. You should limit your travel as much as possible and keep informed of the authorities. If you take the road, bring special equipment for your vehicle such as chains or snow tires, and take food and blankets in the worst case scenario.

The weather alert is planned until Friday at noon in the three departments targeted by orange vigilance. In Doubs, the Territoire de Belfort and Haute-Saône, Météo Franc-Comtoise forecasts between one and five centimeters in Besançon and Ornans and up to eighteen centimeters very locally in Haut-Doubs, the region of Montbéliard, the Territory of Belfort.

Haute-Saône for its part can expect nearly 4 to 8, even 10 cm over most of the department, but locally 15 cm cannot be excluded in the direction of Belfort, Montbéliard as well as in the Vosges Saônoises.

The snowfall will fade, according to forecasts, during the second half of the night from Thursday to Friday and will shift towards Switzerland and the Alps.

But be careful, a refreeze is still on the cards. With temperatures approaching negative, the roads could be frozen in sectors and create black ice in the morning.