France’s national traffic-information centre Bison Futé reported 516 kilometres of cumulative jams across the country at 03:40 on Saturday 26 September 2026, the worst figure recorded on a ‘green-flag’ weekend since 2019. Analysts attribute the spike to a confluence of factors: pilgrims heading to Paris for the papal Mass, late-summer vacationers returning from the Atlantic coast and ongoing motorway resurfacing on the A7 south of Lyon. Île-de-France bore the brunt, with 71 kilometres of slow-moving traffic on the A1 and A86 corridors into Saint-Denis. Electronic signage urged drivers to postpone departures or detour via the Francilienne ring road. Truckers faced a temporary ban on overtaking in several zones, extending logistics lead-times. For cross-border freight, the congestion added up to 45 minutes at the Calais Eurotunnel terminal, complicating just-in-time deliveries to UK supermarkets already stocking up for the October half-term holiday. Business travellers connecting to Charles-de-Gaulle were advised to budget an extra hour. Bison Futé forecasts gradual improvement after 14:00 but warns that return traffic on Sunday evening could be equally heavy. Companies running ground-transport pools should consider staggered departure slots to mitigate idle time and driver overtime costs. On a strategic level, the data revive calls for dynamic toll pricing—a proposal the Transport Ministry shelved last year but may revisit as part of its 2027 Mobility 2.0 white paper.
Source: Bison Futé
