The autoroute (French:[otoʁut]ⓘ, highway or motorway) system in France consists largely of toll roads (76% of the total). It is a network of 11,882km (7,383mi) of motorways as of 2014. On road signs, autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo. Toll autoroutes are signalled with the word péage (toll or toll plaza).
Unlike other motorway systems, there is no systematic numbering system, but there is a clustering of Autoroute numbers based on region.
A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A10, A13, A14, A15, A16 radiate clockwise from Paris, with A2, A11, and A12 branching from A1, A10, and A13, respectively. A7 begins in Lyon, where A6 ends. A8 and A9 begin from the A7.
The 20s are found in northern and northwestern France. The 30s are found in eastern and northeastern France. The 40s are found near the Alps. The 50s are in the southeast, near the French Riviera. The 60s are found in southern France. The 70s are found in the center of the country. The 80s are found in western France, except for the A89 autoroute which goes from southwestern to eastern France.
A11 is named L'Oceane because it leads to the Atlantic Ocean (Nantes).
A13 is named the autoroute de Normandie as it traverses the region Normandy.
A16 is named L'Européenne (the European) because it connects Paris with several European destinations such as the Belgium–France border, as well as Calais, which is connected with England.
A20 is named L'occitane as it leads to the region Occitanie in south-west France.
A21 is named the rocade minière (mining road) because it crosses the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, the largest mining stub in France.
A26 is named the autoroute des Anglais (motorway of the English) as it connects Calais, the main point of arrival for cars and lorries from the UK, before continuing to Troyes, and through the Champagne region, whose wines are loved by the British. In addition, it passes near the sites of the most famous battles fought by the British Army in World War I, such as Arras, Cambrai, and the Somme and not far from Ypres and Mons in Belgium. It also passes sites of earlier UK interest such as Crecy and The Field of the Cloth of Gold.
A35 is called l'Alsacienne or autoroute des Cigognes (Storks' motorways) as it passes only through the historical region of Alsace, for whom storks are a cultural symbol.
A36 is called la Comtoise after the old region Franche Comté.
A40 is named the autoroute blanche (white motorway) as it connects the French winter resort towns and the Alps.
A68 is called autoroute du Pastel because it leads to Albi and to the Lauragais where woad was cultivated to produce pastel.
A71 is called L'Arverne.
A75 is called La Méridienne.
A77 is called Autoroute de l'Arbre.
A84 is called Autoroute des Estuaires. It is part of the main route between Belgium and Spain, avoiding Paris.
A104, one of Paris's beltways, is also known as La Francilienne because it circles the region of Ile-de-France.
Administration
The status of motorways in France has been the subject of debate through years, from their construction until recently. Originally, the autoroutes were built by private companies mandated by the French government and followed strict construction rules as described below. They are operated and maintained by mixed companies held in part by private interests and in part by the state. Those companies hold concessions, which means that autoroutes belong to the French state and their administration to semi-private companies. Vinci controls around 4,380km (2,720mi) of motorway. The different companies are as follows:
ALIS (SEM, SAPN 8%, Bouygues 20.2%, Ixis 26%, DTP Terrassement 13.44%), operating the A28 Rouen-Alençon 125km, Alis, official site
France has the following speed limits for limited access roads classified as motorways:
Under normal conditions - 130km/h (80mph)
In rain or wet road conditions - 110km/h (70mph)
In heavy fog or snowy/icy conditions - 50km/h (30mph)
Limited access roads classified as express roads have lower speed limit (90 or 110km/h, 55 or 70mph).
In normal conditions, there is a minimum speed of 80km/h (50mph) in the leftmost lane. There is no minimum speed on the others lanes, however the speed must be adapted to the conditions and not constitute a hazard by being too slow.
Safe design
Dynamic information panel used on the French Autoroute.
The autoroutes are designed to increase driver safety and allow for higher speed limits (130km/h or 80mph) than on regular roads (80km/h or 50mph) without increasing the risk of accidents.
The safety features include:
one way driving: the lanes driving in the opposite direction are separated by at least a crash barrier designed to resist the oblique impact of a car at up to 180km/h (110mph); there are no intersecting roads but overpasses and underpasses;
wider carriageways, with at least 2 (often 3) lanes driving in the same direction, with a larger turning radius - some recently built autoroutes have one-lane-only sections; for privately operated motorways, in 2017, the proportion is 6800km (74%) in 2x2 lanes, 2252km (25%) in 2x3 lanes, 84km (1%) in 2x4 lanes.[2] Each lane is 3.5m wide.[5]
long entrance and exit ramps or slip roads to get in or out of the autoroute without disturbing the traffic;
an emergency lane, where it is forbidden to drive (except for emergency services), to park (except in case of emergency) and to walk;[6] Since 2000, new emergency lanes on newly built motorways should be 2.5m wide (or 3m if there are more than 2000 trucks a day). According to the 2000 standard, the emergency lane must be included in a 10m wide (8.5m for sections limited to 110km/h) security zone without obstacles (in case the security zone includes an upwards slope, it is limited to the line where the slope reaches a height of 3m).[5]
presence of emergency call boxes every 2km (1.2mi) on each side, that allow to call for help with the possibility to locate the call; some call boxes have flashing light that warn when there is a problem ahead;
Sign indicating a picnic place in an aire de repos.
rest areas (aire de repos, i.e. car park with public toilets) every 10km (6.2mi) (4–6minutes of driving) and service areas (aire de service with a least a gas station) every 40km (25mi) (20–30minutes of driving) - on most recently built autoroutes these distances may be longer, up to 30/60km;
regularly patrolling security services, to clear any obstacle and protect drivers in trouble (usually a breakdown or a flat tyre) with appropriate warning signs and beacons;
dynamic information panels that warn about possible difficulties ahead (e.g. accident, roadworks, traffic jam);
a radio station (107.7MHz in FM) provides traffic information bulletins every 15 minutes (with a report in English in certain areas) and breaking news for emergencies;
on heavy traffic days (e.g. beginning and end of school holidays), specific information and recreation events may be organised in rest areas;
radars automatiques (speed cameras) are installed in many locations, and announced by a specific road sign.
Safety results
Fatalities on motorways have decreased between 2002 and 2016.
On French motorways, in 2016, 121 fatal accidents are direct/initial accidents representing 82% of fatal accidents, 16 (11%) fatal accidents occurs after a previous accident, and 10 (7%) fatal accidents occur after an incident.[8]
Three scenarios catch two-thirds of initial accidents:[8]
A01 simple collision of two vehicle without direction change
A06 crash on protection system such as safety traffic barrier
Young drivers between 18 and 34 years old represent 19% of motorway drivers, but they are overrepresented in fatal motor vehicle collisions[7] and are involved in more than half of fatal accidents.[7]
Involvement of young drivers in 2016, in fatal accidents
Although pedestrians are forbidden on motorways in conformity with the Vienna Convention, they are still sometimes killed on motorways.
In case a vehicle on a carriage cannot move, motorways safety rules remains applicable: it is forbidden for a pedestrian to travel on the motorway by article 421-2 from the "Code de la route" law.[10] For this reason, in case of accident or breakdown, it is advised to turn on hazard warning lights, wear high-visibility clothing, and go in a safer place such as the other side from the traffic barrier where there is no traffic. Since 2008, it is clarified that warning triangles are no longer mandatory when they would endanger the driver of the disabled vehicle.[11]
The toll roads were granted as concessions to mixed-economy corporations; the free roads are directly administered by the national government. Tolls are either based on a flat-rate for access to the road or on the distance driven. The latter case is the most common for long distances; users take a ticket from an automatic machine when they enter the autoroute, and pay according to the distance when exiting; toll booths accept multiple payment methods.
Sign indicating a péage.
In 2005, the Villepin government proposed a controversial plan to sell all of the state's holdings in autoroute companies to private investors. Critics contend that the price announced is well below the profit forecasts for these companies, and thus that the government sacrifices the future to solve current budgetary problems.[12]
The FM 107.7 radio coverage is available in 2017 on 8902 kilometres of the (ASFA) network.[3] This is a list of highways that are updated in 107.7 FM every 15 minutes, live 24/7 (if the highway is said alone, it means that the station covers all around it):
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