Company | Marseille: here is why the L2 ring road has relieved congestion in the tunnels
Like certain highways in the Marseille sector, the Marseille tunnels have experienced a real drop in traffic for two years. The figures bear witness to this: if we do not take into account Saint-Loup (Urbain sud), put into service on July 1, 2020, we have gone from 100,000 (2020) vehicles per day to 75,000 (2022). Two main reasons for this significant decline in traffic in the free tubes, led by the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis, of the Marseille city.
“We no longer have the morning and evening peak”
First and foremost, the full opening of the L2 bypass (A507). “Initially, no less than 20% of traffic in the tunnels went to the ring road. As a fashion effect. Then (and over time), this figure dropped to 15%”, reveals Yves Fleurial, operations manager.
This means that peak hours have disappeared in these major axes. “We do not have anymorehe adds, morning and evening peak.” It should be noted that at the same time, the A507 accommodates 130 or even 140,000 vehicles per day during the week. While the highest dear were counting on 110,000 before it opened in full.
6500 vehicles/hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Then, as an extension of confinement, the implementation of telework also made it possible to lose 10% of traffic. This makes a total – with motorists favoring the L2 – of 25% less traffic between July 2020 and July 2022.
Typically, traffic is heaviest on Tuesdays and Thursdays: 6,500 vehicles/hour (v/h) at the height of the day. On Mondays and Fridays, this figure drops significantly with 5200 to 5300 v/h. On Wednesday, it drops even more with a range between 4200 and 4500 v/h. It’s dense but more to do with a not so distant past…
To know
– Tunnels: Joliette – Old Port – Major – Saint-Charles – Saint-Loup (Urban South)
– The number : 115,000 vehicles/day (counting Urban south put into circulation on July 1, 2020 and which is 22,000 V/h)
The slightest accident causes monster traffic jams
Even if the traffic has dropped, if we add the number of vehicles that use Urban South recently put into service, the traffic is in reality generally the same. If the accidents tend to fall, it should be known that even the smallest of them causes sometimes enormous deductions. For example: if a collision on Thursday around 5:30 p.m. at La Joliette leads to the neutralization of a lane, it only takes a quarter of an hour for the traffic jam to go up to Grand Littoral on the A55! 90% of accidents are said to be “material”, which means that no one was injured.