Author Archives: driveeuropenews

Daily Brief 1 August 2013

Last updated 20:20 BST.

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in brief:

Channel delays: Only Eurotunnel Freight, DFDS Dover-Dunkirk + P&O Calais-Dover.

Weather: Hot central/south; cloud north.

Traffic: See @DE_Traffic from 09:00 BST.

News: Italy toll strike off – Man steals road – Belarus road tolls start – Coach crash road operator prosecuted.

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Swiss-Italian border, Chiasso-Como. Admittedly there are worse places to queue. Chalet-dotted wooded hills rising behind, Lake Como just a few hundred yards away. But the borderless Schengen Area was supposed to have put an end to ‘Controlli Doganali’ (customs control), even between Italy and Switzerland. The delays are mostly to do with the toll stations just down the road on the A9 to Milan apparently but nevertheless cars pass slowly under suspicious eyes across the border. Long southbound queues are normal here; up to 8km at busy times.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red and Amber alerts for forest fire south Norway. Amber alert heavy rain Ireland. Amber alerts for high temperatures Montenegro, Hungary, Spain and Belgium.

Weather – hot and fair France, Low Countries, Germany, Spain, Italy, Alps. Cloud and some drizzle in the north.

TRAVEL.

P&O Calais-Dover: ‘All services operating to schedule except the Calais to Dover 20h35 which will now depart approx. 21h35 due to earlier technical problem.’

DFDS Dover-Dunkirk: ‘The following departures on our Dover Dunkirk services are operating with delays of up to 60 minutes due to port movements – Departing Dover at 2000, 2200 and 2359. Departing Dunkirk at 2200 and 2359.’

Eurotunnel Freight: UK Terminal delay 2h30, French Terminal delay two hours.

No operators currently reporting any delays.

See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NEWS.

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Italy – it sounded too good to be true, and so it turns out. The strike at motorway toll stations planned for this weekend has been called off… Like with the motorway filling station strike a few weeks ago, it seems the powers-that-be caved in. Was great while it lasted. Hope not too many people completely rejigged their travel plans in anticipation.

Rome – private vehicles will be banned from the road around the Coliseum – Via dei Fori Imperiali – from this Saturday morning and throughout the extensive renovation works. But recently elected, cycling mad mayor Ignazio Marino said today ‘I am dreaming’ that roads around the world famous monument would be free of all vehicles, even public transport, before the end of his five year term. The term ‘total pedestrianisation’ is gaining currency in the city. One wonders where it will end. For the full story read this from ANSA news agency.

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Flags flew at half mast at the Ferrari factory in Maranello on Tuesday in memory of the 38 victims of the Avellino coach crash.

Flags flew at half mast at the Ferrari factory in Maranello on Tuesday in memory of the 38 victims of the Avellino coach crash.

Avellino – two executives from road operator Autostrade are among several people under investigation for manslaughter following the coach crash catastrophe on the A16 near Naples last Sunday. Thirty eight people died when their coach plunged off the Acqualonga Viaduct near Avellino. The charges reportedly relate to the type of crash barrier used on the carriageway.

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Russia – a few weeks ago we reported how a man was arrested after stealing a bridge in northern Russia. Now a man from Syktyvkar, a city in the centre of the country, has been detained on suspicion of stealing a road. According to the Moscow Times, police stopped three trucks carrying 82 reinforced concrete slabs – with a, er, street value of $6,100  – that previously formed a carriageway in the region.

Other news: If you thought Russian traffic cops were on the make purely for themselves then think again. A group of front line traffic police in southern Siberia have reportedly petitioned the Kremlin about an alleged extortion racket. Each mobile patrol group is apparently forced to pay their bosses 1,500 rubles (£30) per shift. An oft quoted poll in 2007 said 48% of Russians thought the traffic police were corrupt; that’s why so many have dashcams to prevent them being fitted up (and why Russian dashcam videos are such a rich source of online entertainment). But now a senior parliamentary deputy has tabled a motion to have them banned under privacy laws. Similar rules already make the devices illegal in Luxembourg and Austria, the latter with a swingeing €10,000 fine, even for a first offence.

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The new electronic toll system, Belarus.

The new electronic toll system, Belarus.

Belarus – the BelToll system goes live today. Electronic road tolls are now payable by all EU-registered vehicles at a rate between €0.04-0.12 per kilometre, on 815km of the country’s major roads. In the future they could vary the tolls depending on vehicle emissions, an advanced feature even by Western European standards. See www.beltoll.by for more.

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NOTE:

Crossing the Channel – All operators are warning passengers to leave plenty of time for journeys to the port. With availability often limited at this time of the year, late passengers may have to want considerable time for space, and/or be liable for extra charges.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Working on the ground. An audit of the EU’s road building programme.

A report on EU road building throws up some shaming headlines, but a deeper read reveals some surprising findings, particularly about road building in Germany. 

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Egnatia Odos in Greece, Igoumenitsa

One of the Greek roads in the study: Egnatia Odos, Igoumenitsa-Thessaloniki.

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Top Gear’s recent ‘Budget Supercar’ feature was filmed in and around the deserted new towns and motorways of southern Spain. High speed runs were staged on the runway of an abandoned airport.

As @JeremyClarkson tweeted afterwards, ‘If you watched Top Gear tonight ask yourself a question. Who paid for all those things they didn’t need?’

It’s become the received wisdom, that the EU fritters away western European taxpayers’ money on costly, white elephant infrastructure projects in the south and east. But is it true?

Well a report on road building, coincidentally released the day after that Top Gear programme, says: yes.

It found that projects were over-specified, late, projections were wrong, budgets exceeded, the locals were basically given the cash and left to get on with it, and there weren’t any mechanisms in place to measure the benefits of the roads when they were finished. There were also question marks over the tendering processes.

Most damning of all, it emerged that it was cheaper to build roads in Germany than either Spain, Greece or Poland.

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Building roads in Spain.

Road building in Spain.

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The European Court of Auditors selected 24 road projects completed between 2000 and 2013, focusing on the four countries that between them took 62% of the €65bn roads’ budget. In descending order they were Poland, Spain, Greece and Germany.

Ten of the projects were motorways, ten were expressways and there were four single lane main roads. In total they cost €3bn to which the EU made an average contribution of 44%.

According to the Auditors’ findings, six of those motorways should have been expressways (which are half as expensive to build) based on traffic levels since the roads opened.

Only nineteen of the projects had both estimated and actual traffic figures available. Fourteen of them had been over-estimated. Only five were within 20% of predictions.

Interestingly though it was the Germans who got it wrong most often. The best they managed was 79% utilisation; the worst was 47%.

In fact, strip out the six German projects and the problem becomes not empty roads but too-full ones. Five of the rest have traffic over a fifth greater than originally envisaged.

The Germans also took the prize for the most expensive overrun. The S177 at Radeburg came in at very nearly twice the contract price. Meanwhile, the Poles delivered five roads on budget and were the only country to build one under-budget.

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Poland. Expensive but built on time and to budget.

Poland. Expensive, but built to time and on budget.

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The poor old Germans suffered the longest delays too – on average 59.5% longer than planned – and only managed to bring one road in on time (as did the Greeks). The Spanish on the other hand brought two roads into service ahead of schedule.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that every 1,000m2 of road in Germany cost €87,000 to build compared to €122,562 in Greece, €160,694 in Spain and €163,370 in Poland. This is nothing to do with geography, bridges and tunnels, or the costs of land. This is just for laying tarmac.

Disappointingly, the Auditors failed to come up with a clear cut reason for the massive disparity in costs. The word corruption didn’t get a single mention. It was left to the European Commission in its response to hint vaguely about inflation in the price of materials, an overheated construction market and ‘unjustified additional works’ in Poland, plus one or two clauses in the local tendering arrangements in Spain that ‘may have been’ advantageous for the contractors.

It also emerged that the EU has no minimum cost/benefit ratio, and that it was up to the member states/local authorities to decide what kind of roads they wanted and to manage the construction.

Despite the damning headlines, overall the Commission must have been pretty pleased with this report. Everyone agrees that the new roads cut journey times and improved safety. The report didn’t find that any of the new roads had crazy routes via out-of-the-way places inhabited only by local politicians. The Commission also made the point that traffic levels should be evaluated over more than just the first few years.

Ultimately, the Auditors came to the inescapable conclusion that the EU should exert much more control over infrastructure projects in the future. You cannot help but feel that plays right into the Commission’s hands.

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See the report here. It’s a recommended read, clearly written, with hardly any jargon, and a great insight into how the EU works on the ground, literally.

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Daily Brief 31 July 2013

Last updated 18:00 BST.

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in brief:

Channel delays: P&O Calais-Dover, Eurotunnel freight.

Weather: Cloudy north, sunny south.

Traffic: See @DE_Traffic from 09:00 BST.

News:

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For the next six months, Hertz is the only place in Europe with Jaguar F-TYPEs for hire. Prices start at €250 per day.

For the next six months, Hertz is the only place in Europe with Jaguar F-TYPEs for hire. Prices start at €250 per day. Available in Belgium, Netherlands, Paris, Germany, Italy – and the South of France.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red and Amber alerts for forest fire south Norway, and Amber alerts for high temperatures Montenegro and central Spain, .

Weather – showers, some heavy with thunderstorms, across Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden but hot and sunny in South of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

TRAVEL.

Limited space DFDS Dover-Calais.

P&O Calais-Dover: ‘All services operating to schedule with spaces currently available with the following exception: Calais to Dover 20h35  which will now depart at approx. 21h10.’

Eurotunnel freight: ‘Due to an earlier cancellation, the journey from check-in to arrival in France will take approximately 2 hours.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NEWS.

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NOTE:

All operators are warning passengers to leave plenty of time for journeys to the port. With availability often limited at this time of the year, late passengers may have to want considerable time for space, and/or be liable for extra charges.

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Daily Brief 30 July 2013

Last updated 19:00 BST.

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in brief:

Channel delays: Eurotunnel. P&O D-C.

Weather: Hot and sunny in the south, and north east.

Traffic: See @DE_Traffic from 09:00 BST.

News: Rolls-Royce pops up in Cannes – Gibraltar queues – Italy toll strike threat.

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Ukraine. Which ever way you cut it, police are making an effort to engage with foreign visitors. Fairly or not, Ukraine law enforcement has the reputation for targeting visiting drivers with the aim of lining the pockets with the fruits of under the counter transactions.

Kharkiv. Which ever way you cut it, police are making an effort to engage with foreigners. Fairly or not, Ukraine law enforcement has the reputation for targeting visitors, particularly drivers, but a press release from the force in the eastern city of Kharkiv shows they are at least aware of the issue, even without saying so directly. Officers have conducted surveys with tourists under the watchful eyes of local media. Perhaps not surprisingly the results show ‘there were almost no complaints’. Police say they will conduct a thorough analysis of the questionnaires to help ‘create a comfortable environment for foreigners to stay in the Kharkiv region’. That’s good enough for us.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red warning for forest fire south Norway. Bulgaria and Romania under amber warning for high temperatures; Serbia and Latvia for storms.

Weather – dry, hot and sunny across the south from Spain to Turkey and from Finland east. Heavy showers Norway, Denmark & Germany. Fine and dry in the north west, apart from UK. Some showers France.

TRAVEL.

P&O Dover-Calais: ‘Due to adverse weather conditions some of are sailings are subject to delays’.

Eurotunnel Freight UK terminal: ‘Due to high volume of traffic the journey from check-in to arrival in France will take approximately 2 hours.’

No operators currently reporting any delays.

See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NEWS.

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Italy – AGI News Agency says negotiations are underway to end this weekend’s strike at motorway filling stations. More when we have it. Click for our previous story.

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Gibraltar – despite an intervention from Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday, delays crossing into Gibraltar reached three hours today according to @JamesNeish, a local journalist. As far as we know there has been no official response yet from the Spanish government though the Spanish Foreign Minister reportedly told William Hague that enhanced border checks would continue ‘whenever necessary’. Drivers waited up to eight hours on Saturday as border guards apparently inspected every vehicle. It was the latest in a series of tit-for-tat incidents, often resulting in long border queues, over the disputed territory. For the latest see www.gbc.gi.

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Rolls-Royce has opened a pop-up dealership in Cannes for the summer season. Situated just behind the Croisette on Bvld du General Vautrin, cars will be available for test drive. Rolls-Royce has a permanent dealership on the Cote d'Azur, about an hour up the road in Monaco. Image courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.

Rolls-Royce has opened a pop-up dealership in Cannes for the summer season, just behind the Croisette on Bvld du General Vautrin. Image, Rolls-Royce Wraith courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.

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NOTE:

All operators are warning passengers to leave plenty of time for journeys to the port. With availability often limited at this time of the year, late passengers may have to want considerable time for space, and/or be liable for extra charges.

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Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Daily Brief 29 July 2013

Last updated 19:00 BST.

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in brief:

Channel delays: P&O D-C-D.

Weather: Very warm but heavy showers.

Traffic: See @DE_Traffic from 09:00 BST.

News: Coach crash A16 Naples.

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Azerbaijan. Introducing the Shahdag National Park in the southern Caucasus. Thanks to foreign aid and loans is in the process of developing tourist infrastructure. Home to goat antelope, chamois, lynx, jackal, wild boar, wolf and brown bears and Mount Bazarduzu, the highest point of Azerbaijan at 14,652ft. In the meantime, how about Nagorno Karabakh? Seriously. The war torn republic, in the north east of Azerbaijan but controlled by its ethnic Armenian population, only accessible by road from Armenia, looks to tourism as one of its most important future industries. Visitors are already enjoying the wooded mountains, monasteries, and active front line.

Azerbaijan. Introducing the Shahdag National Park in the southern Caucasus. Thanks to Presidential decree and foreign aid and loans is in the process of developing tourist infrastructure. Home to goat antelope, chamois, lynx, jackal, wild boar, wolf, brown bears and Mount Bazarduzu, the highest point of Azerbaijan at 14,652ft. In the meantime, how about Nagorno Karabakh? Seriously. The war torn republic, in the north east of Azerbaijan but controlled by its ethnic Armenian population, only accessible by road from Armenia, looks to tourism as an important future industries. Visitors are already enjoying the wooded mountains, monasteries and active front line.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – South east Europe, including south east Italy, again covered in Red and Amber warnings for high temperatures. Surrounding countries with Amber warnings for temperatures and/or storms. Risk of forest fire in southern Norway now downgraded to Amber.

Weather – heavy showers in much of western Europe. Dry and sunny in Spain, Portugal, central and southern Italy, Poland, east Baltic and south to the Balkans.

TRAVEL.

P&O Dover-Calais: ‘All services are operating to schedule and on time with limited availability apart from the following sailings that are subject to delays of up to 45 minutes: Pride of Burgundy: Calais-Dover 17h55, Dover-Calais 19h15. Pride of Kent: Calais-Dover 18h50, Dover-Calais 20h15. Spirit of Britain: Calais-Dover 19h55, Dover-Calais 21h20.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NEWS.

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Italy – another horrific coach crash. On the A16 motorway to Naples at Avellino. Early reports say the brakes failed on a notorious downhill section; others that a tyre exploded. The latest reports say 37 people died. Spain, Montenegro and Ukraine have all suffered coach accidents with multiple victims in recent months.

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NOTE: Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Daily Brief 28 July 2013

Last updated 18:15 UK time.

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in brief:

Channel: no delays.

Weather: warm to hot, mainly dry.

Traffic: see @DE_Traffic.

News: Gibraltar border chaos – Jenson, Hungary.

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Note: Roads to the ferry ports have been heavily congested with holiday traffic. All the operators are warning customers to arrive in good time.

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Belgrade. A fearsome one way system, heavy traffic and signs in Cyrillic only. For a moment we considered jacking it in a driving to Budapest. But Google Maps saved the day.

Belgrade. A fearsome one way system, rush hour traffic and signs in Cyrillic only. City centre driving doesn’t come much more intimidating than this. For a moment we considered jacking it in and driving to Budapest, 230 miles away, but Google Maps, with its Latin translations, saved the day. With that in mind, it’s encouraging that acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said this week that signs in places frequented by tourists will soon appear in Latin script. Not sure he means road signs but, hey, it’s a start.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red and amber warnings for high temperatures central, east and south east Europe, plus red and amber alerts for risk of forest fire Norway.

Weather – very warm to hot though with heavy showers in Portugal, South of France, the Alps and northern Europe.

TRAVEL.

No operators currently reporting any delays.

See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NEWS.

Gibraltar border queues, again.

Gibraltar. No queues outbound today but drivers on the way in still suffering a long wait.

Gibraltar. No queues outbound today but drivers on the way in still suffering a long wait. Photo via @JamesNeish.

Gibraltar – every one of the 10,000 cars passing over the border from Gibraltar to Spain was checked by border guards yesterday. Motorists waited for up to eight hours in sweltering heat. There were also large queues on Friday. Local broadcaster GBC News calls it ‘an undeniable retaliation tactic from the Spanish authorities following last Thursday’s incident at sea’ when Royal Navy ships attempting to lay an artificial reef in the bay were disrupted by Spanish fishermen. This is latest in a string of confrontations after mediation between Spain and the UK over the territory broke down last year. Such incidents are often followed by hyper-vigilance by Guardia Civil officers at the border. At the time of writing, there were no queues out of Gibraltar, but drivers coming in are waiting up to two and a half hours according to GBC News. For the latest, listen live to GBC at www.gbc.gi

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Quite a good race today. Lewis Hamilton won his first race for Mercedes, and Jenson Button came seventh...

Quite a good race today in Hungary. Lewis Hamilton won his first race for Mercedes. Jenson Button came seventh… but for McLaren these days that’s a good result. All we can say is bring on the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix, because we’re going. Woo! Photo via @McLarenF1.

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NOTE: Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Daily Brief 27 July 2013

Last updated 18:15 UK time.

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in brief:

Channel: Eurotunnel UK freight delays.

Weather: Thundery west, hot east.

Traffic: France, Germany and Switzerland.

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Note: all the Dover ferry operators are warning customers to arrive in good time for their sailings as the port is very busy and there is limited availability on many sailings. DFDS Dover-Dunkirk/Calais sailings are full today.

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A random chateau somewhere south west of Montigny-le-Roi, eastern France

A random roadside chateau somewhere south west of Montigny-le-Roi, eastern France. From ‘Lost in the Auvergne’, coming up.

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WEATHER.

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red alerts for thunderstorms northern Germany, for high temperatures Hungary, Montenegro and Sardinia. Red and amber alert for forest fire south Norway. Amber alert for high temperatures Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland.

A strip of Amber risk of thunderstorms and high temperatures Belgium, and France, north to south.

Weather – thunder Spain, northern France, Low Countries. Hot in central Europe and the south east.

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TRAVEL.

Eurotunnel Freight: UK terminal: ‘Due to high volume of traffic, the journey from check-in to arrival in France will take approximately 2 hours.’

Brittany Ferries: ‘Caen/Portsmouth/Caen. 16;30 Departure from Caen delayed by 35 minutes.  ETA in Portsmouth 21:45.  Embarkation controls for 22:45 sailing will commence as soon as possible thereafter – Please Check-in as normal.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays.

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TRAFFIC.

Major holdups on major routes. Delays of over 30mins.

France – North – A29 eastbound to junction with A28 north of Rouen. Pont de Normandie bridge at Le Havre only busy southbound now.

Bordeaux: A630 clockwise onto A63 southbound.

Switzerland – No southbound queue at Gotthard Tunnel. Northbound now 4km and 40min delay.

Germany – north: A7 northbound across junction with A210, Kiel. And now A1 southbound Lubeck to Hamburg.

West – A46 southbound from junction with A1at Wuppertal (resolving).

South – A9 northbound to Ingolstadt after junction with A93 (resolving).

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See Traffic/Travel/Weather for more.

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NOTE: Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Daily Brief 26 July 2013

Last updated 20:30 UK time.

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in brief:

Channel: 30min delays passenger Eurotunnel and P&O D-C-D.

Weather: some heavy showers, otherwise warm and sunny.

Traffic: residual jams France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.

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Note: all the Dover ferry operators are warning customers to arrive in good time for their sailings as the port is very busy. There is also limited availability on many sailings. DFDS Dover-Calais/Dunkerque sailings are full today.

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Hungary?

Hungary? Landlocked and quite flat – with a highest point of just under 3,500ft – but specialising in rolling, lush countryside. Half of Hungary is farmland, but it does have some interesting landscape, not least the heavily wooded Bakony Mountains north of the vast Lake Balaton (the Hungarian Sea/Riviera). Vienna isn’t far away. Our first experience of Eastern Europe proper was a day trip from there, on the motorway to Budapest, coming off at Gyor to head south to Balaton, along the north shore, then to the Slovenian border, cross country to Ljubljana, finishing in Trieste on the Adriatic coast. Was great.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Germany – Red alert for risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms Baden Wurttemburg. Red and amber alert for risk of forest fire south Norway and amber for western Slovenia. Amber alert for high temperatures north east Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland and Montenegro.

Amber alert for thunderstorms and high temperatures for large parts of France and south west Germany.

Weather – heavy showers Belgium, Holland, east Baltic, Alps and northern Italy. Else warm and sunny.

Crossing the Channel: P&O Dover-Calais: some services delayed by 30mins.

Eurotunnel UK terminal 30min delay; France 30mins. Due to high volume of traffic.

Eurotunnel Freight: 2h30 delay UK terminal due to high volume of traffic.

No other operators currently reporting any delays. See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for more.

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TRAFFIC. Major holdups on major routes. As at 20:30 UK time.

France – Calais/Dunkerque exits busy on and off. A16 and A26 okay.

Lille – A25 northbound through the city. Traffic backed up onto the A1 northbound. Now also A25 southbound at the A1 junction. Steadily resolving.

Paris – westbound A86 up to junction with A6b then A10 southbound. Also queues up to peage on A6 at Evry. All queues now much reduced.

Nice – A8 eastbound around Nice. Very slow from Antibes exit.

Belgium – E40/A10 westbound (towards Dunkirk/Calais) past Gent. Now improving.

Germany – north: A1 in and around Hamburg, esp. northbound out of the city towards Lubeck, and A7 jams in both directions past Kiel.

West: A59 southbound to junction with A42 (Oberhausen/Duisburg).

South: A8 westbound to junction with A5 at Karlsruhe. Munich: A8 eastbound towards Salzburg.

Switzerland – southbound queue at Gotthard Tunnel currently 3km, 30 minutes delay.

Italy – A4 eastbound at Milan very slow, especially before and after junction with A8. Also at Brescia after junction with A21, and slow on the way into Vicenza.

Spain – A6 northbound from west of Valladolid. A1 northbound from Madrid.

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NOTE:

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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Peripherique speed limit cut. Air quality or road safety?

When plans to reduce the Paris ring road speed limit first surfaced in February it was about air quality. Now it’s about road safety.

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Boulevard de Peripherique, Paris. Not sure how they are going to buy this little lot. Interchange with A3 at Porte de Bagnolet.

Boulevard de Peripherique, Paris. Not sure how they are going to bury this little lot. Interchange with A3 at Porte de Bagnolet.

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Ecology minister Delphine Batho first proposed reducing the speed limit on the Peripherqiue Paris ring road in February in response to a European Commission crackdown on air pollution.

The limit would be cut from 80kmh to 70kmh ‘before the summer’.

At the same time, she announced new Low Emission Zones (LEZ) for towns across the country from 2015.

However, Ms Batho was fired in June before she could put any of these plans into action, apparently after criticising government spending cuts.

Then on Thursday 11 July, interior minister Manuel Valls revived the Peripherique speed limit cut as the next stage in ambitious plans to improve road safety.

So far, so politics, though it’s hard to think of a more blatant example of policy re-engineering, in any country (if you know of one please let us know).

Ultimately though it begs the question: why are the authorities so desperate to cut the speed limit on the Peripherique?

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Daily Brief 25 July 2013

Last updated 18:30 UK time.

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in brief:

Channel: P&O Dover-Calais-Dover delays.

Weather: lots of heavy showers. Hot and sunny in the south.

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Note: all the Dover ferry operators are warning customers to arrive in good time for their sailings as the port is very busy. There is also limited availability on many sailings.

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Austria. Europabrueke, Europe Bridge, on the A13 Brennerbahn, Brenner Motorway, between Innsbruck and the Italian border north of Bolzano, the busiest route through the Alps. Brennerbahn is one of the few motorways in Austria not covered by the vignette. The toll is €8.50 for a single trip by car, about 30 miles. Europabrueke, opened in 1964, used to be Europe’s highest bridge at 190m (620ft). Now looks puny beside the current record holder, the Millau Viaduct, on the A75 in southern France, at 270m (890ft). EB is now the sixth highest bridge in Europe and the 51st in the world though there’s absolutely no sense of that from the roadway because the barriers are so high. Photo: ASFINAG.

Austria. Europabrueke, Europe Bridge, on the A13 Brennerbahn, Brenner Motorway, between Innsbruck and the Italian border north of Bolzano. The busiest route through the Alps. Brennerbahn is one of the few motorways in Austria not covered by the vignette. The toll is €8.50 for a single trip by car, about 30 miles. If you only use A13 you don’t need to buy the vignette. Europabrueke, opened in 1964, used to be Europe’s highest bridge at 190m (620ft). Now looks puny beside the current record holder, the Millau Viaduct, on the A75 in southern France, at 270m (890ft). EB is now the sixth highest bridge in Europe and the 51st in the world though there’s absolutely no sense of that, fortunately, from the roadway because the barriers are so high. Photo: ASFINAG.

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TRAVEL/WEATHER:

Meteoalarm weather risk alerts – Red and amber alert for risk of forest fire south Norway and amber for western Slovenia. Amber alert for high temperatures north east Spain, south Switzerland, south east Austria Hungary and Montenegro.

Amber alert for thunderstorms down the west of Germany and large parts of France.

Weather – lots of heavy showers in north, west and central Europe and the Alps. Hot and sunny across the south apart from light showers in Italy.

Crossing the Channel: Eurotunnel Freight: French terminal delay 2 hours ‘due to high volume’. UK terminal, two hour delay due to earlier cancellation.

P&O Dover-Calais: ‘Our services are operating with delays of up to 45 minutes with the exception of our on time Dover-Calais 19h15 Pride of Burgundy.’

No other operators currently reporting any delays. See our Traffic/Travel/Weather page for more.

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TRAFFIC. Major delays from 15:15 UK time. Rush hour.

Paris: The A86 anticlockwise is very busy along much of its length in the south east suburbs of Paris, especially up to the junction with the A4, and the A6a, with consequent tailbacks on those roads.

Netherlands: A15 westbound into Gorinchem.

Belgium: A13 westbound into Antwerp, still very busy but improving.

Germany: A7 southbound into Hamburg, from J21, accident. A7 in and out of Hamburg is very busy, and the A1. A5 southbound at Karlsruhe, blackspot all week, and between there and Stuttgart (and Ulm) on the A8, very slow both directions.

west: A61 southbound towards junction with A4 west of Cologne, both slow but improving.

Italy: A4 at Milan, both directions, particularly eastbound towards Bergamo (improving).

Czech Republic: extensive road works, particularly in the central section, on D1 Prague-Brno, busy both directions (improving).

Switzerland: southbound queue at Gotthard Tunnel 3km, 30mins delay; northbound queue 5km, 50mins delay.

Austria: A9 northbound into Graz, 10 mile tailback.

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NOTE:

Bulgaria – anti-govt demonstrations becoming a permanent feature, stepping up a gear on 23 July with a blockade of parliament. The British Embassy says, ‘There is a small risk of violence. Avoid large gatherings in public spaces and follow local media and the advice of the local authorities.’ For the latest FCO travel advice click here. For Bulgarian news in English see www.Novinite.com or @novinite_com on Twitter.

Turkey – after some time without protests the situation is unpredictable again. See latest FCO travel advice.

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