UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – If all safety conditions are met, the highway will be accessible from May 11 only to light vehicles.
Closed since April 19, the section of the A13 motorway weakened by cracks will reopen on May 11, only in the Province-Paris direction and for light vehicles, indicated the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine this Monday, April 29 , specifying that “all safety conditions” must be brought together.
The prefecture adds that the date of reopening in the Paris-Province direction will be communicated “subsequently” to the extent that heavier repair work is required. Le Figaro takes stock of the latest information.
Work in question
According to information from Chained Duckthat Le Figaro is able to confirm, the responsibility for the cracks would lie with the construction of an underground car park near the motorway, ordered by the Hauts-de-Seine general council.
“For the experts, the events generating this situation are the works. There may be a combination of several elements, like rain for example, but the work is the trigger. This is not a road maintenance defect.we are told.
The prefect of Hauts-de-Seine communicated this Monday evening that “the analyzes carried out today show that the work carried out, outside the structure on a nearby construction site, are, according to the most probable hypothesis, the events generating this movement of the ground”.
“Very weak ground movements” observed
On Friday, the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine had already announced the extension of the closure of the A13, between Vaucresson and Paris, while the resumption of traffic was expected from May 1. “Very weak ground movements were observed. It therefore appears necessary to continue the investigations initiated and to carry out additional analyses., explained the state representative. In the meantime, users are invited to find alternative solutions. The axis, emptied of cars, is not deserted: walkers, sportsmen and animals go there from time to time, enjoying an extremely rare moment of calm on a usually crowded highway.
Make the A14 free? “We looked, and it might be even worse”
Of the “improvement solutions” were also mentioned by the minister, as “additional offers in terms of trains” or help from carpooling platforms. The A14, however, will not be made free. This idea had been formulated by several elected officials, including the boss of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, or the deputy (Renaissance) for Yvelines, Karl Olive, but the executive is opposed to it. “We looked, and it would perhaps be even worse than the disease, because we would saturate the La Défense tunnel”justified Patrice Vergriete.
