Trip to Le Mans

Brian_A3 · Post by **Brian_A3** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 18:12

Hello all. First post on here so I'll make it a good one (I hope

)

I'm travelling down to Le Mans for the 24 hour race in two weeks time.

We're getting the ferry across to Calais but from there I'm not sure whether to take the Autotoute all the way (A16, A28, through Rouen for the bit of the A28 not yet built and then back on the A28).

I'm told the toll cost will be around €20.

So does anyone out there have any experience of these roads? Is it worth going the Autoroute way on cutting cross country on some N roads?

Any advice/comments gratefully received.

luchar · Post by **luchar** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 13:12

The A28 is I think pretty good, since it gets you directly to Le Mans and makes you avoid Paris. The only trouble is going to be in Rouen (Map click here), where the motorway stops. You got to cross over the town to catch the A13 westbound in order to get the A28 back (see the map). Rouen's western bypass is still on the planning stage since 30 years, and today they're speaking of a "tolled expressway" (certainly not a motorway, also it's like it), but I don't think we'll see it until 2015 at the best.

si404 · Post by **si404** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 13:25

perhaps as a sabristic detour, take one of the bridges over the Seine nearer it's mouth (Normandie/Tancarville) and then head back along the A13 to remeet the A28 towards Le Mans. You can always do Rouen one way, and a big bridge the other.

sotonsteve · Post by **sotonsteve** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 14:18

The non-motorway through Rouen is a dual-carriageway, and when I last took this route don't remember any traffic problems.

Don't hold me to it though!

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 17:07

Take the most direct way with Autoroutes - the old N1 is torture, as is the old N138 once you pass Rouen. Neither N route is particularly scenic either, so there's no merit in going that way.

Some of the way (Calais-Boulonge) and roughly Abbeville-Rouen is free too - so it's by far the most sensible route to take.

luchar · Post by **luchar** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 17:19

sotonsteve wrote:The non-motorway through Rouen is a dual-carriageway, and when I last took this route don't remember any traffic problems.

Don't hold me to it though!

I was just warning since the "expressway" ends on the Seine banks, and you need to cross the town before catching the A13.

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 17:25

Ah, a route I am familiar with!

The N28 voie express ends on the banks of the Seine then it's the dreaded D18E dual carriageway down to the A13 at Oissel.

The D18E is fine unless you hit it at 5pm or 8am when the traffic lights bung the road up.

If you want a better quality route, take the A29 from the A28 and then the A151 and A150 down to the N338 which will bring you out on the A13 at Chateau Robert Diable, about 5 miles east of the new A28.

Brian_A3 · Post by **Brian_A3** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 17:55

Thanks for the advice to you all.

I was hoping for a picturesque N route but it seems I may have to contend with a mainly Autoroute experience.

The recommended route from Via Michelin is basically the A16/A28 route. I'm concerned about the crossing of Rouen as I've heard some horror stories about it taking hours to cover the centre of town. It seems a little crazy to have an autoroute dumping it's traffic on a town either side.

I'll let you know how I get on!

luchar · Post by **luchar** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 19:18

Brian_A3 wrote:Thanks for the advice to you all.

I was hoping for a picturesque N route but it seems I may have to contend with a mainly Autoroute experience.

The recommended route from Via Michelin is basically the A16/A28 route. I'm concerned about the crossing of Rouen as I've heard some horror stories about it taking hours to cover the centre of town. It seems a little crazy to have an autoroute dumping it's traffic on a town either side.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Actually in Rouen, the situation is a bit weird. It is one of those cities which had great projects in the 70s, half of them aren't even finished. On the west of the city, we've got two motorways: A151 and A150. The two of them are truly pathetic and empty of traffic, but still they're useful for local traffic. The A150 isn't even completed, and there are years to come before we'll see it in one entire piece. It is not an urgent project.

The problem is once the A150 gets into Rouen. It should have crossed the Seine and connects to what is today the "voie express sud III", realized in the 1990s at great costs. However, today's planned bridge, whose work shall begin very soon, will be connected via roundabouts and traffic lights to local boulevards, the expressway and the motorway.... Pathetic, when we think that we could have gotten an efficient western bypass of the city.

Concerning the expressway prolongating the A28 into the downtown, it should have been connected with a southern branch (A139) to link with the A13. Only a section of the A139 was realized near the A13, and was prolongated by the Sud III. The expressway should also have met a riverside expressway running along the Seine.

Today, as I said, the western bypass should be designed as a "tolled expressway". It would be the first one in France, and I don't know why they don't simply call it a motorway.

t1(M) · Post by **t1(M)** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 20:35

sotonsteve wrote:The non-motorway through Rouen is a dual-carriageway, and when I last took this route don't remember any traffic problems.

Don't hold me to it though!

I travelled from Tours to Calais yesterday by this route: no problems at all - often there were no other vehicles visible on the A28 - quite a shock to return to Britain and the packed M20.
Highlight of the route is the two D1M (!) viaducts: south of the A13 junction if memory serves.

But if you have the time, the N roads are much more fun.

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 22:03

Yes, several D1M viaducts on the A28...

Brian_A3 · Post by **Brian_A3** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 09:06

t1(M) wrote: Highlight of the route is the two D1M (!) viaducts: south of the A13 junction if memory serves.

Sounds unusual. I'll see if I can get some photos for the gallery.

m11ldncam · Post by **m11ldncam** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 17:27

Just to concur with what others have said regarding crossing Rouen.

I use the A28 from Abbeville down to Rouen then usually its takes 30 -45 mins to get through the town depending on how the queues at the many traffic lights are, then for me it used to be via N/A154 on towards Tours but the new A28 is a joy to drive, empty and hassle free, as at early May they were still opening up the rest areas / service areas but all in all a great improvement. Will be back down again at end of June. The toll for the section Rouen to Tours was €22 and the earlier section Bolougne to Abbeville was €6.60.

Yes those D1M viaducts are amazing

t1(M) · Post by **t1(M)** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 18:20

Brian_A3 wrote:
t1(M) wrote: Highlight of the route is the two D1M (!) viaducts: south of the A13 junction if memory serves.
Sounds unusual. I'll see if I can get some photos for the gallery.

The Viaduc du Bec and Viaduc de la Risle, between junc 13 and 14. There is a picture here - note the hard shoulder!

Taken from this site

Brian_A3 · Post by **Brian_A3** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 08:46

SABRE is a fountain of knowledge. Thanks for all the advice.

I haven't driven in France since 1998 so I'm looking forward to the experience of (hopefully!) lots of empty Autoroutes.

luchar · Post by **luchar** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 14:28

Bryn666 wrote:Yes, several D1M viaducts on the A28...

Actually several of them are actually being dualled !!!

(more infos for the weekend)

Brian_A3 · Post by **Brian_A3** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 19:23

Well a great trip to Le Mans and back.

770 miles all told there and back. A drive down the Mulsanne straight (well it was the day before the race and open as a public road).

Just a shame it was in a massive traffic jam at the time.

It amazes me that such a bad quality public road is used as part of a race track but maybe that's part of the challenge.

The two D1M viaducts were interesting. 100 Km/h across them rather than the usual 130 Km/h on French Autoroutes.

It was great to drive on the A28. Virtually no traffic and well worth the €16 toll charge.

Such a shame when I got back to Dover and had to get on the over congested M20. My stress levels on the 90-odd mile journey back home were far higher than on the 270 or so I had previously covered in France earlier in the day.

Thanks again for all the advice.

sotonsteve · Post by **sotonsteve** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 19:35

I had a look on Multimap and France's road building programme is still going strong after quite a few years of motorway network expansion.

One that will make life easier will be the Le Mans to Tours motorway, as whenever we go to France we tend to use this route, due to catching the Portsmouth-Caen ferry.

Hopefully I'll go on a French holiday soon; I haven't been there for a few years. Hopefully, I will drive too!

luchar · Post by **luchar** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 07:47

Actually some NIMBY and greens associations have called for a moratorium on all new motorway projects... the text is so full of all kind of mistakes it's hard to read it... they take out the usual arguments about the motorways... like the skyrocketting oil prices, environmental negative impacts, etc. But I don't think it will have influence on the gov't, which did not draw any new highway project since 2003. But we have much to do to complete the planned expressways and motorways. The road budget in France for 2005 was 850 million euros.

I also inform you that work has finally started, after years of talks, on the last section of the A41 between southern Geneva and the north of Annecy, along the congested N201. Opening planned in late 2008.