VINCI inaugurates the A86 Duplex, the final, western, link of the "super-ring road"

10 January 2011 - Projects update and handover - France

The A86 Duplex tunnel was inaugurated on Saturday 8 January 2011 by Pierre Coppey, chairman of Cofiroute and VINCI Autoroutes, Patrick Ollier, Minister responsible for relations with Parliament and mayor of Rueil-Malmaison and Thierry Mariani, Secretary of State for Transport, in the presence of Xavier Huillard, Chairman & CEO of VINCI.

The second section of the A86 Duplex, covering the 5.5 km between Vaucresson and Vélizy, was opened to traffic at 1 pm on the next day, Sunday 9 January 2011, six months ahead of the date provided for in the concession contract signed by Cofiroute* with the French government.

The A86 Duplex offers drivers substantial time savings under safe and pleasant driving conditions. It will now take less than 10 minutes to complete the 10 km trip between Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine) and Vélizy (Yvelines), compared to over 45 minutes on average using surface roads. The first section of the A86 Duplex, opened to traffic on 1 July 2009, cut travel time between Rueil-Malmaison and Vaucresson to just five minutes. It is used by over 13,000 vehicles on average every day, with travel "peaks" of 15,000 vehicles/day.

Designed, built, financed and operated by Cofiroute, this new-generation urban tunnel forms the final, western, link of the A86 motorway, the second ring road in the Paris region after the inner ring road (boulevard périphérique). The tunnel, which primarily facilitates travel between La Défense and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines / Vélizy, major economic hubs in the Paris Region, makes a major contribution to improving the mobility of residents.

The A86 Duplex, reserved for light vehicles, consists of two superimposed decks carrying traffic moving in opposite directions. This one-way system eliminates the risk of head-on collisions. Sophisticated monitoring equipment and systems enable rapid detection and handling of any incident.

Staff at the 24-hour Cofiroute operations centre at Reuil-Malmaison monitor the safety and comfort of users and can provide front-line emergency assistance in the event of an incident. Over 100 employees have received special training and carry out regular drills.

Thanks to its stringent safety features and controls, the first section of the A86 Duplex was named as "the safest tunnel in Europe" by the European Automobile Clubs and Touring Clubs in their 2010 tunnel assessment programme (EuroTAP) covering 26 road tunnels in 13 European countries.

The A86 Duplex was built by VINCI companies for Cofiroute, which will be operating it under concession until 2086. It represents an investment of €2.2 billion.

* Cofiroute (1895 employees) operates a network in centre-west France (A10, A11, A28, A71, A81, A85 and the A86 Duplex). A private-sector company since its creation in 1970, Cofiroute's shareholders are VINCI (83.33 %) and Colas (16.67%).  It also has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany and records about 120 million transactions a year.  Cofiroute's inter-urban network is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.

 

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.