Fréjus Road Tunnel
The Fréjus Road Tunnel is a tunnel that connects France and Italy. It runs under Col du Fréjus in the Cottian Alps between Modane in France and Bardonecchia in Italy. It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes between France and Italy being used for 80% of the commercial road traffic.
The French entrance to the Fréjus Road Tunnel at Modane, Savoie. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Traforo del Fréjus (Italian) Tunnel du Fréjus (French) |
| Route | E70 RN543 E70 Traforo T4 E70 European route E70 |
| Start | Bardonecchia |
| End | Modane |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1980 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 12.87 km (8.00 mi) |
| Operating speed | 70 km/h (43 mph) |
Construction of the 13 km (8.1 mi) long tunnel started in 1974, and it came into service on 12 July 1980, leading to the closure of the motorail shuttle service in the Fréjus rail tunnel. It cost 2 billion francs (equivalent to €700 million at 2005 prices). It is the thirteenth longest road tunnel in the world.
The French section is managed by the French company SFTRF, and the Italian section by the Italian company SITAF. (The French politician Pierre Dumas was chairman of SFTRF from 1962 to 1989). The tunnel can be reached from the Italian side by the A32 Torino-Bardonecchia motorway, or by SS335 from Oulx, which joins SS24 (“del Monginevro”), and reaches Bardonecchia after 20 km (12 mi). From the French side, it can be reached by the A43 (“l’Autoroute de la Maurienne”) from Lyon and Chambéry. A toll is charged to all traffic. Over 20 million vehicles passed through the tunnel during the first 20 years.