Inauguration of A19 motorway between Artenay and Courtenay: 101 km of eco-motorway opens to traffic at noon on 16 June

8 June 2009 - Projects update and handover - France

On 8 June, France’s first eco-motorway will be opened to traffic. The 101 km A19 linking Artenay to Courtenay is a new generation of socially responsible motorway in terms of environmental protection and customer relations. It also provides greater safety for motorists and maintenance employees, and is more user-friendly with regard to its surrounding area and the customers it serves throughout their journey.

The inauguration will be hosted by Pierre Coppey, Chairman and CEO of Cofiroute and Arcour, and Eric Doligé, President of the Loiret Departmental Council. Their guests will include Dominique Bussereau, Secretary of State in charge of Transport for the Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Regional Development, and Xavier Huillard, Director and CEO of VINCI.

The 101 km A19 Artenay–Courtenay will be opened to traffic at noon on Tuesday, 16 June, four months ahead of the contractual deadline set with the government, the concession grantor. Linking the A10, A6 and A77, the A19 will complete the outer bypass of the greater Paris region. It is also the final link in the major east-west corridor for vehicles wishing to drive between Nantes and Strasbourg without transiting via Paris.

The opening of the A19 marks the completion of France’s biggest motorway project. In all, 8,000 people were involved in the project, which represented 4 million hours of work. Executed in record time – barely four years between signature of the concession contract and bringing the motorway into service – the project illustrates the soundness and effectiveness of VINCI’s concession operator-designer-builder business model.

The eco-motorway, a new generation of infrastructure

A socially responsible motorway, the A19 achieves a very high environmental performance in terms of protecting water resources and biodiversity. It has 107 run-off treatment basins, i.e. more than one per kilometre. In addition, it is equipped with animal crossings and 200,000 trees have been planted along its route.

A safe motorway, the A19 is innovative in that it is the first in France to test continuous hard shoulder markings – in common with other European countries – in order to provide greater safety for personnel working on the motorway.

A user-friendly motorway, the A19 is equipped with eco-designed rest and service areas. In addition, Autoroute FM 107.7, France’s leading motorway radio station, will broadcast 24 hours a day for the benefit of private car and HGV drivers.

Depending on the time of year, the A19 Artenay–Courtenay is expected to be used by an average of 8,000 to 9,000 vehicles a day, of which 20% will be heavy goods vehicles. The majority will be transit traffic, with about 60% of vehicles travelling from one end of the A19 to the other without using the interchanges along its route. On a local basis, the A19 will alleviate the heavy HGV transit traffic on the RN 60 trunk road between Orleans and Courtenay.

About Arcour
Arcour, a wholly owned subsidiary of VINCI, is the concession operator of the A19 Artenay–Courtenay. It is in charge of financing, design and construction of the motorway, and awarded its operation to Cofiroute.

About Cofiroute
Cofiroute (1,918 employees) operates 1,201 km of motorway covering central-western France (A10, A11, A19, A28, A71, A81 and A85). A private-sector company since its creation in 1970, Cofiroute’s shareholders are VINCI (83.33%) and Colas (16.67%). The company also has operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. It records about 120 million toll transactions a year.

 

About VINCI
VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction, employing 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, we are committed to operating in an environmentally, socially responsible and ethical manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. Based on that approach, VINCI’s ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general.