The A86 (sometimes called "Paris super-périphérique") is the second

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

around

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 follows an irregular path around Paris with the distance from the city centre ( Notre Dame) varying in the range. The south-western section of A86 contains one of Europe's longest urban motorway tunnels ( of continuous tunnel) known as the , opened in two parts in 2009 and 2011. The tunnel is limited to a height of and commercial vehicles are prohibited as a result. Although now a complete motorway-standard loop, the A86 is a product of its heavily urban route and piecemeal construction, meaning that there are several points at which one has to turn-off-to-stay-on (TOTSO) and sections which are briefly parts of the A3 and

A4 autoroute The A4 Autoroute, also known as autoroute de l'Est (), is a French ''Controlled-access highway, autoroute'' that travels between the cities of Paris and Strasbourg. It forms parts of European routes European route E17, E17, European route E25, ...

s. A86 is a part of the three-ring-road system surrounding Paris and

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

: *

Boulevard Périphérique The Boulevard Périphérique (), often called the Périph, is a limited-access dual-carriageway ring road in Paris, France. With a few exceptions (see '' Structure and Layout''), it is situated along Paris's administrative limit. The spee ...

, completed in 1973, roughly an ellipse and limits of Paris city. * A86, completed in 2011, irregular, , similar in size with London's

North Circular The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting vari ...

and South Circular. * The

Francilienne The Francilienne () is a partially completed ring road in Île-de-France (the ''région'' that includes Paris), France, lying outside the A86. The planned ring road is approximately in diameter, similar in size to London's M25 motorway. Star ...

, a partial ring, circa in diameter, comparable with London's

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

. The

Grand contournement de Paris image:ParisRingRoads GC.svg, 400px, thumb The (French for "Great Paris Bypass") is the fourth ring road around Paris, enclosing the three other ring roads (Boulevard Périphérique, Périphérique, the A86 autoroute, A86, and the Francilienne). T ...

, two wide loops bypassing Paris, referred to as the First and Second Solutions, may be considered the fourth and fifth ring roads, but are too far from Paris to be considered real ring roads.

Duplex A86

The Duplex A86 is a 10 km (6,2 mi) long motorway

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

in Paris, which forms part of the A86. Unlike most tunnels, this one is a single tube, double deck tunnel. (Captions are in English) It opened in two stages: the northern section (

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () or simply Rueil is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department, Île-de-France Regions of France, region. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is ...

- A13) opened on 26 June 2009 and the southern section (A13 -

Vélizy-Villacoublay Vélizy-Villacoublay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the Kilometre Zero, center and ea ...

) on 9 January 2011. It was initially open between 06:00 and 22:00. From 1 September 2009, it became operational 24/7. Due to the nature of this tunnel, it has a height restriction of 2 m (6 ft 6 in) which precludes large vehicles using the tunnel and has a speed limit of 70 km/h (43 mph). Motorcycles and vehicles with

dangerous goods Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabically abbreviate ...

are also not permitted.

List od exits and junctions

References

External links

Official Website of the A86 West Tunnel System
{{Autoroutes Autoroutes in France Transport infrastructure in Île-de-France Ring roads in France

Duplex A86

List od exits and junctions

See also

References

External links