February holidays: Bison Futé sees red and predicts heavy traffic this weekend towards the ski resorts

Bison futé dévoile ses prévisions de circulation pour le week-end du 17-18 février. ILLUSTRATION MAXPPP – Vincent Isore

Bison Futé hisse le drapeau rouge en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes samedi dans le sens des départs, alors que se poursuivent les vacances de la zone C et débutent celles de la zone A. 

The holidays continue and traffic becomes complicated on the roads during the second weekend of school holidays for zone C (Paris, Versailles, Créteil, Toulouse and Montpellier), the first for zone A (Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon and Poitiers),  mainly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Île-de-France.

This weekend also marks the start of the winter holidays for the northern and central areas of the Netherlands and the end for the southern areas of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Thus, traffic will be heavy between the northern borders and the winter sports resorts of the Alps.

Dense traffic heading towards the stations

Smart Bison sees orange Friday February 16 in the northeast quarter of the country in the direction of departures.  The first slowdowns will appear at the end of the morning on the A6 motorway between Wissous and Chilly-Mazarin. They will gradually turn into traffic difficulties from the beginning of the afternoon mainly on the A6B, A86 and A6 motorways.

By mid-afternoon, traffic flows corresponding to work-home journeys and weekend departures will reinforce these difficulties. Peak traffic should be reached towards the end of the afternoon. Traffic will remain heavy on the A6 motorway until late evening. Difficulties are also expected in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté (A6) and Grand-Est (A4) regions.

ℹ️#InfoTrafic 2nd #weekend #vacances #hiver #Départs :
🟧Difficile IdF, Bourgogne/Est 16/02
🟥Très difficile Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 17/02#Retours :
🟧Difficile IdF, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 17/02
Prévisions➡️https://t.co/FXZq83PSgK🛣️🚗
Pour trajets courts, privilégiez marche ou vélo. pic.twitter.com/pVeYdHUU47

— Bison Futé (@BisonFute_MT) February 14, 2024

The day of Saturday February 17 is classified red in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the direction of departures. The roads connecting the ski resorts will be particularly congested throughout the day (A40, A43).

In the return direction, in Île-de-France, traffic will be heavy on the A6 motorway between early afternoon and mid-evening. Sunday February 18, however, nothing to report, Bison Futé seeing green all day in both directions.

Advice from Smart Bison

To avoid traffic jams as much as possible, the road safety organization has drawn up a list of the most congested roads for this weekend and therefore the sectors to avoid as much as possible.

For Friday in the direction of departures, leave or cross Île-de-France before 2 p.m., avoid the A4 between Metz and Strasbourg from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the A6 between Fleury and Mâcon from 12 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday, in the direction of departures, Bison futé suggests avoiding the A40 between Mâcon and Annemasse from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., the A43 between Lyon and Modane from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The organization also advises avoiding the A430 near Saint-Hélène-sur-Isère from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the N90 between Albertville and Bourg-Saint-Maurice from 12 p.m. ;nbsp;at 3 p.m. and the N85 between Grenoble and Gap between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m..

In the direction of returns, always on Saturday, Bison futé recommends reaching or crossing Île-de-France before 2 p.m., to avoid the A7 between Orange and Lyon from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the A40 between Annemasse and Mâcon from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the A43 between Chambéry and Lyon from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. 60~/p>