Major road works on the A16 between Calais and Dunkirk could impact Eurotunnel, DFDS P&O and MyFerryLink customers up until the end of September.
.
Drivers taking the A26 direction Paris at junction 47 on the A16 near Calais could be affected by the road works too.
The A16 motorway between Calais and Dunkirk is being resurfaced in both directions up until the end of September.
From 18-29 August the eastbound carriageway Marck to St Folquin, junction 49-51, will be shut. Traffic will be contraflowed with just one lane open in each direction for the 14km stretch.
From 15-26 September the same will happen in reverse for the westbound carriageway. See below for a map, and the official leaflet.
In theory this will only affect drivers heading east from Calais towards the Belgian border but the fear is queuing traffic will back up past the junction for the A26 Paris road.
For this reason, Eurotunnel is advising customers to divert via the A16 to Boulogne then N42 to the A26 at junction 3. This advice surely stands for P&O and MyFerryLink Dover-Calais customers too.
Similarly, DFDS Dunkirk-Dover passengers may be delayed getting into port by backlogs westbound in which case be prepared to divert through Dunkirk itself.
For the latest see our Daily Brief blog, updated throughout the day, or @DriveEurope on Twitter.
Update 20 August: for the first two days the delays were minimal, a maximum fifteen minutes in each direction. However, from Wednesday 20 August, the road works seem to have started in earnest. We’ll keep a log here of how delays develop.
Update 22 August: delays have started to increase but, apart from brief major build ups, daytime delays are yet to consistently beat 20 minutes.
Update 25 August: delays of up to 35mins in each direction over busy weekend for Calais and Dunkirk.
Update 27 August: with just two days until the eastbound carriageway is set to reopen significant queues have yet to be seen. More next month.
.
Road works highlighted in red, diversion route from Calais/Eurotunnel in yellow. Click for larger map below.
TODAY: Condor Ferries announces the purchase of a new, state-of-the-art fast ferry for its Channel Island services, among several pieces of good new for the operator this week.
Plus, a volcano in Iceland is threatening to erupt. Lovemaking couples in Spain are fined for not wearing seatbelts. Concerns over the number of unroadworthy trucks on Belgian roads, and increasing fuel taxes. The EU’s Galileo GPS system starts in 2020. Skoda workers earn an average £980 per month. Truck queues at the Serbia-Croatia border continue to build. A video on roads reconstruction in Moldova.
.
A GREAT WEEK FOR CONDOR FERRIES
Channel Islands operator gets new contract, new ship and Clipper back early. But it’s bad news for Weymouth.
Austal 102 high speed ferry (picture courtesy of Austal).
Condor Ferries has finalised the deal to buy a new high-speed ferry.
The Austal 102, built in Australia at a cost of £50m, will enter service in spring 2015 between the UK and the Channel Islands. The purchase had been rumoured for some time.
However, the new vessel will not fit the company’s base in Weymouth and will operate from Poole instead, at least in the medium term.
Condor CEO James Fulford said, ‘Poole is a modern and well-connected port, well-liked by our customers.
We recognise that this is disappointing news for Weymouth. However, given the need for berth improvements and an Environmental Impact Assessment, Weymouth is not currently in a position to accommodate the 102.
Reaching a medium-term arrangement with Poole will give certainty to our customers, our Islands, and Poole Harbour Commissioners, whilst also allowing enough time for Weymouth & Portland Borough Council to establish their long term plans for their port.’
Condor’s existing high-speed ferries will operate from Weymouth until the new boat enters service.
The news tops a good week for the operator. It was announced on Friday that it had renewed its licence to run services to the Channel Islands for a further ten years. On Monday it said its Commodore Clipper conventional ferry would re-enter service this weekend, earlier than planned, and after a complete refurbishment, following a bottom-scraping incident last month.
.
A special English language section of the National Icelandic Broadcasting Service has been set up to monitor the situation at the Bardarbunga volcano. The area in red is the danger zone, now evacuated, with roads closed all the way up to Route 1, but there are no definitive signs yet of an eruption. If it does the most likely result is massive flooding in the north. The last time a volcano erupted in Iceland, in 2010, European airspace was shut for a week and cross-channel ferries were packed out. For the latest info see ruv.is/volcano.
.
roundup: SPAIN. A routine breathalyser stop revealed three couples in the back of a car having sex. They were reportedly fined €200 for not wearing seatbelts. BELGIUM. One in seven trucks are not roadworthy say inspectors, mostly due to faulty tyres or brakes. Foreign vehicles account for two thirds of the trucks on Belgian roads but the problem applies to domestic vehicles too. Meanwhile, fuel taxes are likely to increase when the new government takes office, possibly to even out the price differential. Petrol currently sells for €1.615/l on average and diesel €1.436, currently the eighth and thirteenth most expensive in Europe respectively. GALILEO. Two more satellites for the EU’s own global positioning system launch tomorrow. After years of cost overruns and delays the system is now expected to be up and running by 2020. CZECH REPUBLIC. Out of interest, the latest statement from Skoda Auto reveals that the company’s average monthly salary stands at 34,000CZK (£980). The firm is taking on 800 new employees ahead of the launch of the new Fabia supermini. SERBIA. The truck queue at the Batrovci border crossing with Croatia is worsening. After a delay of twelve hours yesterday, today it reached fifteen hours. It’s not clear why. Most other border points are operating normally.
.
MOLDOVA: loans from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB), and grants from Luxembourg, totalling €670m are helping reconstruct 830km of key roads in the land-locked south east European country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine:
TODAY: driving the original Belgian Grand Prix circuit + a great place to watch the race.
Also, another car-jacking in Spain. A Latvian gang is busted for stealing BMWs en-masse in Northern Ireland. Overnight maintenance starts at the Gotthard Tunnel next month. New EU emissions regs will see a Barfleur sized hole in Brittany Ferries’ timetable next year. Truck queues at the Serbia-Croatia border crossing show no signs of abating. And, a video from Dover detailing recent and upcoming improvements at the port.
.
DRIVING THE OLD SPA FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT
Most of the original circuit remains, on roads open to the public.
.
Bearing in mind its fearsome reputation, it’s surprising that the original Spa Francorchamps circuit survived basically unaltered until 1978.
Apart from some Armco barriers installed in 1970, and a few corners trimmed here and there over the years, the track that held that year’s Spa 24 Hours was the more or less the same one that hosted the same race in 1922.
The first 9.3 mile circuit was roughly in the shape of a triangle between the villages of Francorchamps in the north, Malmedy in the east and Stavelot in the west.
The three points were connected by more or less flat out straights. Even in 1937, Herman Lang lapped at an average 110mph. By 1973 Henri Pescarolo had bumped that up to 163mph, too fast for modern motor sport. F1 had already departed in 1969 after a decade in which ten drivers had died at Spa. The current version, now 4.3 miles long, was unveiled in 1981.
Where the new circuit hangs hard right for the plunge down to the Rivage hairpin, the old circuit went left in a sweeping S curve on what is now the N62 towards Malmedy.
N62 doubles back on itself through the town at a roundabout but, straight on, the now N68 is the first part of what was the Masta straight where 1960’s Grand Prix cars hit 190mph.
The famous Masta Kink – where Jackie Stewart ended up upside down, drenched in petrol, in a farmhouse basement in 1966 – has been slightly smoothed off now but the original profile remains, at the same point, around the outer edges of the layby just before the little hamlet.
Those wanting to be truly historically accurate would stay on N68 until the T-junction in Stavelot then turn right onto Route de l’Eau Rouge. Otherwise, about two hundred yards before, fork right onto (the one-way) Pont de Cheneux, a tightish right hand curve added just after WW2.
Route de l’Eau Rouge heads back through woodland towards the current circuit via the former La Carriere curves.
But for wire fencing and an admission gate it would meet the modern layout at Courbe Paul Frere, ahead of the magnificent full-throttle Blanchimont.
Drivers these days have no choice but to U-turn over the little Eau Rouge stream and make their way back to Stavelot.
.
Belgian Grand Prix, a great place to watch the race: even humble general admission ticket holders can – by craning their necks – watch the cars through Eau Rouge, or, as they sweep through the top speed Blanchimont then brake super late for the ace passing place Bus Stop chicane. Unsurpassed however, in our experience of Grand Prix tracks, is the view from inside the Rivage hairpin at the top of the circuit. There’s an unencumbered, close quarters view as the cars pop, spit, bang and grind their way around the outside. Fantastic. Here, Kimi Raikkonen, Belgian Grand Prix 2013. Photo @DriveEurope. Spectating top tip: those bringing their own seat should not forget bungee cords. Perfect for looping around the fence to rest ankles on. Feet take a real pounding around the hilly Spa Francorchamps circuit.
.
roundup:SPAIN. Three armed car-jackers are on the run after holding up a vehicle containing two undercover police in Murcia last week. They escaped in a while Ford Focus, reg. XX 12 FMX, and a black Seat Leon, XX 53 FHC. The UK Foreign Office warned earlier this year about car-jackings in Spain. THEFT. 120 BMWs were allegedly stolen and dismantled in Northern Ireland ready to be shipped to Latvia. Four Latvian men have been charged. The gang reportedly employed a ‘sophisticated cross-border key cloning racket’. SWITZERLAND. The Gotthard Tunnel’s autumn maintenance starts in early September. For three weeks starting 8 September the tunnel will close Monday to Thursday overnight, 19:30-05:00. Alternatives include the A13 via Chur, the Gotthard Pass, or the Lukmanier Pass from Biasca. POOLE-CHERBOURG there will be a gap in the service from 16 March – 29 April next year as Brittany Ferries’ Barfleur has emissions-abating ‘scrubbers’ installed to conform with new EU rules. The ship actually returns on 16 May but the company will operate a fast ferry on the route over the early May Bank Holiday period. Meanwhile, Brittany Ferries has some tempting autumn package offers: 4-7 nights around northern Spain from £179pp including B&B, return crossings and cabin, two+car. SERBIA. After long delays over the weekend, most crossings are back to normal but the truck queue at the Batrovci crossing with Croatia reached twelve hours today.
.
DOVER: a video from Port of Dover detailing recent and upcoming redevelopment at the port and how it will impact (and improve) the town. Fast forward to around 2m00 for the specifics at the port or read more here.
TODAY:the new ferry between the UK and Denmark kicks off with a tempting special offer. Plus, What To Do In Denmark. Meanwhile, another proposed ferry route surprises with a high-profile sponsorship deal.
Plus, Maserati sets off on an intercontinental road trip. Germany to take action on wrong-way drivers. Kerch ferry queue turns deadly. 1,000 trucks are turned back at the Russian border, and massive queues build up at some Serbian border crossings, and one in Bosnia.
.
TEMPTING SPECIAL OFFER ON NEW UK-DENMARK FERRY
Four+car and cabin £199 each way. Operator confident of Easter 2015 start.
What to do in Denmark: it might not be the most obvious holiday destination – almost totally flat, battered by British weather – but there’s more to Denmark than Copenhagen and sleek, modern design. Little kids love Legoland in south central Jutland, the mainland at the top of Germany. Nearby Ribe, the country’s oldest town, is well worth a look. The best holiday spot is northern Jutland, separated from the rest by the vast Limfjorden. The coast is lined with shifting sand dunes and dotted with cozy cottages. You almost will stormy weather to snuggle up and indulge in the national pastime, Hygge – the candle-lit, strong booze and nibbles-fuelled family and friends social time, ‘enjoying the good things in life with good people around you.’ Ferries can take you from there to either Sweden or Norway.
The prices of the new UK-Denmark Regina Line ferry crossing already look very reasonable but the introductory offer is likely to whet appetites even further.
Four people can cross for £199 each way, including (inside) cabin and car. An outside cabin is €40 extra.
The standard price for a regular car is £75 each way, £95 for a caravan and £100 for a camper. Cabins start at £60 per person in low season or £29 for a reclining seat.
These prices contrast nicely with the £334 @DriveEurope paid – one way, two+car, in an outside cabin, albeit booked two days before – on the DFDS boat back from Denmark in April.
Until a definitive start date is announced, potential customers must remain cautious. However, a spokesman for Regna Line confidently tells @DriveEurope that ‘We are starting the sailings between Harwich and Esbjerg at Easter 2015.’
However, he did not confirm the ship is the former MS Regina Baltica as previously operated by Tallink in the Baltic, as previously reported.
Regina Line aims to operate three round trips per week between Harwich and Esbjerg on Denmark’s west coast. Either way, the ship departs at 18:00 and arrives at 13:00 the next day.
For more information, or to register interest, see ReginaLine.dk.
The UK will lose its last remaining ferry link to Scandinavia at the end of September when DFDS closes its service between Harwich and Esbjerg.
.
Meanwhile, Euroferries refuses to go away. The on/off fast ferry between Ramsgate and Boulogne – crossing time 1h15, prices from £49 – has been announced so many times nobody now really takes it seriously. However, a new ‘five year, six figure’ shirt sponsorship deal with Millwall Football Club, signed in July, has raised eyebrows. The company also aims to operate a scheduled coach service between Ramsgate/Canterbury and London. Like the ferry however, a start date is yet to be announced. See euroferries.co.uk or euroferriesexpress.co.uk for more. Photo @MillwallFC
.
roundup:GERMANY. There are so many wrong-way drivers – ‘geisterfahrer’ (ghost drivers) – on the autobahns the government will invest €25m in a more sophisticated system than the current ‘Stop!’ signs. Nearly 2,000 incidents each year result in around 80 accidents and more than twenty deaths, mainly caused by dotty or drunk locals. RUSSIA. The up to forty hour queues for the Kerch ferry between the mainland and Crimea have turned deadly. One man suffered a heart attack at the wheel while a woman was lucky to escape after being set upon by a mob for trying to jump the queue. Nine ferries serve the route with 95 trips each day. The proposed bridge will take at least four years to build. Overall, tourism will be around half of last year’s total. Meanwhile, 1,000 Spanish trucks carrying fruit and vegetable are reported to have been turned around at the border due to new sanctions on EU food products. EU countries annually export around 105,000 trucks worth of food each year says Lloyd’s List. SERBIA. Large numbers of tourists heading for Montenegro, Macedonia and Bulgaria caused massive queues at some border crossings yesterday: five hours at Batrovci (Croatia) and four hours at Horgos (Hungary). Sid (Croatia) is one hour and Gostun (Montenegro) just 30 minutes. Meanwhile, construction work at the Doljani crossing in Bosnia (to Croatia) is leading to three hour queues outbound and a 90min wait inbound today. Delays at all other crossings are max 30mins.
.
One hundred Maseratis set off from Beijing on Saturday to drive the 12,000km back to the factory in Modena in just 35 days. The route takes them through Manchuria and across Russia, to Moscow and Prague. All in aid of the company’s centenary celebrations. Keep up with the action at #RoadtoModena on Twitter.
TODAY: a new ferry operator will replace the soon to finish DFDS service between the UK and Denmark.
Assumption Bank Holiday around most of Europe today. Holiday weekend road closures Bois de la Cambre, south east Brussels. On-going floods/landslides emergency Veneto, north east Italy and Bosnia (FCO advice).
.
NEW UK-DENMARK FERRY!
Ferry link between the UK and Scandinavia to be restored (updated 18 August)
M/S Regina under its previous owner (or maybe not, see update, below).
A new operator is set to replace the soon-to-finish DFDS ferry between the UK and Denmark.
Regina Line, a Danish company, sets sail next spring carrying cars, freight and foot passengers.
It has not so far said which ports it will use.
The boat – M/S Regina, previously with Tallink in the Baltic – will depart at 18:00 and arrive at 13:00 the next day with three round trips per week.
Prices start at £60 per person in a cabin or £29 for a seat in low season. It’s not clear if the price includes a vehicle.
The company says it will take bookings from October.
In the meantime it asks potential passengers to like its Facebook page, or email office@reginaline.dk to register interest.
More details as soon as we have them. See www.reginaline.dk for more.
Road deaths were finally significantly down in France last month but drivers can still expect a heavy police presence on the roads over the rest of the summer.
Also, Tesla’s free supercharger network is really starting to take off. Travel Trade Crusade’s feature film debuts. The RHA and Home Office meet about the migrant situation in Calais. The new UK HGV Levy really rakes in the cash. Two major stretches of Serbian motorway are on course to open in 2017 while two stretches of Bulgarian motorway will not open this year as planned. Hire a 2CV to bounce around the vineyards of south west France.
.
FRANCE FINALLY GETS ROAD SAFETY CRISIS UNDER CONTROL
But no let up in heavy police presence. 60,000 Belgian drivers flashed in France last month.
Hard hitting: current road safety ad in France, Trop Vite – Too Fast.
As predicted, France finally seems to be getting a grip on its road safety crisis.
After four consecutive months of increases – including a whopping 28% in March – road deaths fell by 11.6% in July. It was the fewest number of fatalities in sixty years during one of the busiest months on French roads.
Injuries were also down, by 15.6%. Those hospitalised for more than 24 hours fell by 18.6%.
The encouraging gains are undoubtedly due to increased traffic police presence. As well as anecdotal evidence seen by @DriveEurope, the new figures come a day after it was reported in Belgium that 60,648 Belgian motorists had been flashed by speed cameras in July. Those numbers were up 13.6% over the same month last year and were ascribed to ‘flash zeal’ by French police.
Police in Sarthe, north west France, home of the Le Mans racing circuit, have also warned about increased police presence this weekend.
Speeding drivers caught at less than 40kmh over the (motorway) limit face an on-the-spot fine of up to €1500. Those caught at more than 40kmh above the limit can have their licences confiscated.
.
New openings – on the A9 near Perpignan in south west France, and the first in the UK outside London, in Birmingham – bring the number of Tesla Superchargers in Europe to 50. Eight have opened in the past two weeks. Photo Sandane, Norway, @Tesla_Europe
.
roundup:CALAIS MIGRANTS. Drivers should be given better information and more meetings should be held with the French authorities it was agreed between the Road Haulage Association and the UK Home Office today, both hoping the situation will have improved before the next scheduled meeting in October due to the ‘expected bad weather’. Meanwhile, the HGV Road User Levy has raised £17m so far: 112,000 trucks from 76 countries have bought 618,000 levies since it was introduced in April. It was expected to raise £20m in the whole of the first year. Compliance is said to be more than 95%; 850 fines have been issued so far totalling £250,000. SERBIA. Two major stretches of Corridor 11 – Obrenovac-Ub and Lajkovac-Ljig – will open on 30 April 2017 said Prime Minister Vucic today, cutting the journey time from Belgrade to Zlatibor in the south west to 90 minutes. He travels to Beijing on 10 September to sign several more infrastructure contracts with Chinese firms. FRANCE. Drive a vintage 2CV around the vineyards of Languedoc-Rousillon in south west France with Vin4 Heures Wine Tours. Six hours, from €60 per person for three people. BULGARIA.No new motorway stretches will open this year says the caretaker transport minister. The Maritza highway, between the A1 Sofia-Black Sea motorway and the Turkish border, and the southernmost stretch of the Struma Highway to the Greek border, were to have seen their first vehicles in 2014.
.
Entrants on this year’s Travel Trade Crusade battled heavy rain, traffic, their costumes and cars over a 1600km drive from Lille to Paris via Strasbourg and Bern. More than £70,000 has been raised for charity in the past two years. Corporate sponsor Allianz helped put together this actual feature film:
Ofenpass in pictures: part one of the pass chain between Stelvio and St Moritz.
Epic in its way, and quite high at 2149m (7050ft), but easy going in comparison with its better known neighbours. It all starts with the glorious Gloranza. See map below.
.
.
Stelvio to St Moritz: Ofenpass, marked in green. Also see Fluelapass and Albulapass.
TODAY: looking ahead to the weekend traffic. It may be the last but it could be the worst Black Saturday of the summer, in France especially.
Plus, new speed warnings on some French motorways. Belgian police issue a retro warning about speed cameras. The trial of the ‘autobahn shooter’ starts today. A new ferry between Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia sets sail tomorrow. Alleged dodgy practices at car rental firms earn the ire of the European Commission while the new Transbucegi high altitude road in Romania upsets at least one hiker. RT captures the moment the massive humanitarian aid convoys departs Moscow for Ukraine.
.
BLACK SATURDAY 3: EVASIVE ACTION
The last super-busy summer Saturday is likely to be the worst.
Trop Vite: don’t be freaked out by the new ‘too fast’ warnings on gantries around the Vinci Autoroute network. The operator manages nearly half of France’s autoroutes, including the A7 south of Lyon, the A8 to Nice and A9 to the Spanish border. The new speed warnings are meant as an ‘educational tool’ reassures the company and are not linked to police computers.
Cumulative traffic jams on France’s major road network look certain to breach the 1,000km barrier this weekend after a record peak of 994km on 2 August, the first ‘Black Saturday’.
Last year’s record – of 828km – was set on 17 August.
Bison Fute says traffic conditions will be ‘extremely difficult’ – black – for traffic heading both to and from the Mediterranean coast.
This Saturday is the first, and only, black day for traffic heading home. It will still be busy, nationwide, on Sunday.
Much of the traffic from the coast will have no choice but to funnel up A7 Avignon-Lyon and then onto the A6 back to Paris. Delays of more than three hours are to be expected on the first stretch from first thing until at least (late) lunchtime.
Drivers from the west should consider the A75/A71 via Clermont Ferrand or, better still, the A20 via Limoges. From the east, either start super-early – hit Avignon no later than 07:00 – or leave as late as possible. From the Nice end, the only real alternative is the N85 Route Napoleon Cannes-Grenoble.
In Germany too, this Saturday will be the last majorly busy day of the summer, and even already slightly quieter on Friday than it has been. More schools across the north are preparing to go back so expect this to be the focus of the heaviest traffic (apart from A8 Munich-Salzburg).
An early start seems to be the best way to avoid the worst in Germany.
Summer traffic in Austria peaked last weekend according to OAMTC but still expect delays on the major transit routes, A13 Brenner, A12 Innsbruck-Munich, B179 Fernpass, A10 Salzburg-Villach and, of course, the A11 Karawanken Tunnel at Villach.
Meanwhile, major delays at the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland are set to continue until 13 September. Two hour waits northbound are likely though the big queues have typically not developed, so far this summer, until after 09:00.
.
Belgian police in Mechelen, between Brussels and Antwerp, attempted to engage drivers by tweeting advance notice of a speed trap on the R6 yesterday, with this photo from thirty year ago, but still managed to nab 36 out of 500 passing cars. Photo @PolitieMeWi
.
roundup:GERMANY. The trial of the alleged ‘autobahn shooter’ starts in Wurzburg today. The 58 year old man named as Michael Harry K is accused of firing more than 700 shots from his cab at passing trucks, mainly car transporters, apparently out of frustration with driving standards. He was arrested last June after a five year hunt. One woman was seriously injured. BLACK SEA. The new roll-on, roll-off ferry between Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia sets sail for the first time tomorrow, between Burgas, Poti and Novorossiyisk. Operated by Port Bulgaria West though there are no details on the website. Previously reported to be owned by Clever Synergies Investment Fund. CAR RENTAL. Complaints over alleged practices like automatic rerouting depending on the potential customer’s internet address – increasing the price by 100% in one case – have sparked a European Commission investigation into car rental firms. Following initial inquiries, Europcar, Hertz and Avis have been told to be seen to be complying with EU non-discrimination rules by 30 August, or else, according to a press release. ROMANIA. The new Transbucegi high altitude road opened last year, between Bucharest and Brasov, has not impressed the editor of Bucharest Life magazine. The prime hiking country is bespoiled by poor parking he says.
.
A creative video from Russian state-backed English language broadcaster RT of the 287-truck humanitarian aid convoy leaving Moscow for Ukraine this morning. Despite assurances from the Russian government, fears remain the convoy is on a ‘Trojan Horse’ mission. It’s exact contents, and destination, is not known. Social media posts from Russian soldiers repainting the (mainly KAMAZ) military trucks did nothing to quell anxieties. At 750km from Moscow direct to the Ukraine border, the convoy should arrive tomorrow.
DriveEuropeNews 