Mont Blanc tunnel to close for nine weeks - Testolin

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 26 - The authorities in Italy's northwestern Val d'Aosta region and France's Upper Savoy region linked by the Mont Blanc road tunnel have discussed its proposed closure "for a maximum of nine weeks to allow work to be carried out that cannot be postponed", Val D'Aosta Governor Renzo Testolin said on Tuesday.
    "We have in any case agreed on the need to guarantee the reopening date of December 18 to allow the road network to be restored before the Christmas period," he added in relation to the proposal by tunnel operator Geie-Tmb to close the tunnel from October 16 to carry out planned work on safety.
    Testolin also said the authorities had agreed that "if possible, this date (December 18, ed.) should be brought forward".
    Earlier this month the Italy-France intergovernmental conference on the tunnel decided to postpone by a year its scheduled 15-week closure starting September 4 for structural renovations involving the ceiling to ease pressure on cross-border road connections following disruptions due to a landslide caused by extreme weather on the French side of the Frejus tunnel further south.
    The tunnel operator has said that the nature of the safety work requiring the nine-week closure is such that it can be suspended and normal traffic flows allowed to resume fairly quickly in the event of new disruptions on other cross-border routes between the two countries. (ANSA).