Skip to main content
SeeChamonix

Whatever happened to the twisty mountain roads?

featured in News & reviews Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated

We understand that the French authorties are currently studying the feasibility of turning the access road to the Mont-Blanc tunnel, which also leads to the Chamonix valley, into a motorway.

The access road would be switched from the national road network to a private concession, giving greater opportunity for its operators to turn the narrow Chamonix valley into a truck corridor, with little regard for the economic health of the 3rd most visited natural site in the world or the health of its population and visitors further indicating how the highly profitable and job creating tourism industry is viewed by the leaders of France!

Tourism provides France with a considerable 10 billion Euros annual trade surplus, while the road transport sector is a black hole for public funds. The majority of its costs is borne by tax payers (infrastructure building, congestion, health and environmental damage…). The consequence of the pro-road policies in France and in the rest of Europe is that up to 3 000 lorries a day climb the road up to the high altitude Mont-Blanc tunnel, creating levels of pollution in this mountain valley that can be equated to large cities (particularly with regards to PM10, NO2 and O3).

We recently reported (30 July) that queues for the Mont-Blanc tunnel we causing some 3km tail back along the dual carriageway into Chamonix. In Chamonix, on a local level, tensions are mounting between those for and against the trucks and publicity surrounding the protestors, with many businesses wishing the opponents would simply go away. According to the ARSMB, businesses in Chamonix suffered during winter 2006 as tourist bookings were cancelled amid fears that the valley is polluted with the trucks. Where this is true remains to be seen. Whilst the area, especially near to the main road, is undoubtedly more polluted than it should be (but not more so than in a town or city) it is still possible to live and enjoy the area almost as normal at the moment - the pollution problems are worst in winter when the fumes cannot rise out of the valley. Therefore there is no real reason for tourists not to continue to come.

Perhaps if local businesses were impacted, more would be done to restore a more sensible balance of traffic on the roads which would be better for the resort and its image as a outdoor sports mecca.