According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, The Mont-Blanc tunnel will not be passable for 4 months, from September 4 to December 18, due to maintenance work, necessary at the structural level.
Inaugurated in 1965, it is crossed every day by more than five thousand vehicles. Work could continue until 2040, with closures regularly blocking traffic during the fall months. According to Geie Tmb, the company responsible for the maintenance and operation of the tunnel, the renovation project of two parts of the vault of 300 meters each will be carried out this fall due to the low use of vehicles, particularly light ones.
To cross the border, alternative routes have already been identified, with a diversion of vehicles towards the Fréjus tunnel, the Grand Saint Bernard tunnel, the Col des Montets and the Col du Petit Saint Bernard. However, this week the landslide which hit the Fréjus tunnel, near Modane, and which led to the shutdown of the railway line between Italy and France, complicated things, with a predictable increase in traffic on passable routes. See also our article:
