Viaduc de Monestier vu du pas du Serpaton - 2017-05-27

The A51 autoroute is a partly completed motorway in southeast

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It currently exists as two sections separated by a gap of approximately 85 km, the northern section sometimes referred to as the A51N. It is the long-term project to connect

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

via

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

department, providing a high-capacity alternative to the heavily used A7 following the Rhône valley.

Northern section

The section at the Grenoble end, from Varces to Coynelle (17 km), was opened in July 1999. This was extended in March 2007 when the next section, connecting Coynelle to the Col du Fau (10.5 km), was opened in March 2007. This section includes 4.5 km of single carriageway through the Tunnel of Sinard and over the Viaduct de Monestier. The opening of this section has greatly reduced the summer congestion through the commune of Monestier. This northern section is a toll road operated by AREA.

Northern section: northbound

(''Col du Fau-N75'') Autoroute recommences with roundabout on the RN75 Sisteron to

. *

13 (''Sinard'') Towns served: Sinard, Monestier-de-Clermont ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area Les Marceaux/Les Jaillets *Péage du Crozet *12 (''Vif'') Towns served: Vif * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

11 (''St-Paul de Varces'') Towns served: St-Paul de Varces, Le Gua * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

10 (''Varces'') Towns served: Varces * Sinnbild Autobahnkreuz

''Exchange A51-A480'' Junction with the A480 to Grenoble,

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Southern section

The motorway passes the cities of

Pertuis Pertuis (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in Vaucluse, a Departments of France, department in the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, south of the Luberon. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, and a castle was first b ...

Manosque Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital ...

, Sisteron and then

Digne-les-Bains Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the Franco-Provençal, classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Alpe ...

and Tallard. In the

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

department, it passes Monestier-de-Clermont, Vif and Varces-Allières-et-Risset. The motorway provides access to the southwestern

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

for the residents of the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. Its southern section connects

and the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Jas-de-Boufan and Aix-les-Platanes. This section where it meets the N7 was originally proposed to be an autoroute but building has subsequently compromised the route. There is a speed limit of 50 km/h on part of the N296.

Southern section: northbound

00 ''Exchange A7-A51'' Junction with A7 to

01 km 2 (''Plan de Campagne'') Towns served: Les Payrets * Sinnbild Autobahnkreuz

02 km 5 ''Exchange A51-A515'' Junction with A515 spur to

Gardanne Gardanne (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Gardannais. Geography Situated close to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille and on the rail link connecting the two cities, Gardanne is bo ...

**Service Area: Les Chabauds/La Champouse *03 km 9 (''Luynes-ZI des Milles'') Towns served: Luynes * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

04 km 10 (''Bouc-Bel-Air'') Towns served: Bouc-Bel-Air * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

04a km 11 (''Luynes-Gardanne'') Towns served: Gardanne, Luynes * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

05 km 14 (''Les Milles'') Towns served: Les Milles * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

05a km 16 (''Aix- Centre'') Towns served:

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *Alternate index, for an IBM Virtual Storage Access Method key-sequenced data set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belg ...

''Exchange A51-A8'' Junction with A8 to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million06 km 19 (''Aix-en-Provence'') Towns served: Aix autoroute becomes the RN296a. * Sinnbild Autobahnkreuz

''Exchange RN296-A51'' Autoroute recommences after a junction with the RN296. * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

11 (''Aix-Les Platanes-Sud'') Towns served: Aix * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

12 km 1 (''Les Platanes'') Towns served: Aix * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

13 km 3 (''Venelles'') Towns served: Venelles * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

14 km 5 (''Meyrargues'') Towns served: Meyrargues **Service Area: Meyrargues/Meyrargues-Fontbelle * Péage de Pertuis ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area km 24 Pont Mirabeau ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area: km 28 Jouques * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

17 km 32 (''Saint-Paul-les-Durance'') Towns served: Gréoux-les-Bains * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

18 km 46 (''Manosque'') Towns served: Manosque **Service Area: Manosque-(Est)/Volx-(Ouest) *19 km 60 (''La Brillanne'') Towns served:

Forcalquier Forcalquier (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Forcalquier is located between the Lure Mountain( fr) and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. Dur ...

via RN100 ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area: Ganagobie * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

20 km 75 (''Peyruis'') Towns served: Peyruis, Les Mées ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area: Belvédère de Peyruis/Les Mées * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

21 km 85.5 (''Aubignosc'') Towns served: Aubignosc, RN85 ** Aire de pique-nique

Rest Area km 87 Aubignosc * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

22 km 91 (''Sisteron-sud'') Towns served: Sisteron * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

23 km 98 (''Sisteron Nord'') Towns served: Sisteron * km 114 Péage de La Saulce-Tallard * Sinnbild Autobahnausfahrt

24 km 114 (''La Saulce-Tallard'') Temporary end of the autoroute which joins the RN85 to

History

The first section was built in 1953, it connected the ''Autoroute de nord'' (open in 1951) to Cabriès. It was only extended to Aix-en-Provence and the A8 in 1970. The construction of the section from Grenoble to Sisteron was subject to protests because of its environmental impact. In 1995 for example, demonstrators blocked work by chaining themselves to construction equipment.

Future

Following many ministerial and policy changes, and tensions between local residents. As a result, the completion of the motorway has been on the agenda for 20 years. Were all the sections are completed the road journey from Grenoble-Marseille would be 2h40 (instead of the current 3h30). However, there are several problems: *The design of the road *The class of roads (toll/free autoroute, expressway or upgrade of the current roads (N75 and N85) *The cost of the project. *Strong environmental impact of the route. The motorway must pass through the middle of the South-Dauphiné (Trièves) Alps. There were two options for the route between the Col de Fau (Monestier-de-Clermont) and the end of the southern section near Gap: # The "High Route" was the most direct route over several high passes to Sisteron (The budget at the time was envisaged at 1.8 billion euros) # "Gap East" (via the Drac valley, the Col de Bayard and the Avance valley) to Saulce the current end of the motorway from Marseille (the budget was envisaged to be approximately 2.2 billion euros). Following a public inquiry organized between 2005 and 2006, the Minister Mr Perben announced in 2006 that A51 would be built on the Gap East route. However the 2011 edition of the National Scheme of Transport Infrastructure (SNIT) did not include the completion of this section. Completion before 2025 is unlikely.

References

External links

A51 Motorway in Saratlas

Unofficial website of the A51 Motorway
{{Authority control A51