The closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel
between Italy and France has been postponed for several days, at
the least, amid fears that shutting down the tunnel as planned
for 15 weeks for maintenance work on Monday could cause chaos,
the company that runs it said Friday.
Connections between Italy and France are already under pressure
as the Fréjus tunnel has been closed to heavy goods trucks and
rail traffic due to a landslide on the French side.
"The renovation work has been postponed and the tunnel will
remain open until traffic resumes on the A43 (highway in France)
and the Fréjus tunnel reopens to heavy goods vehicles, which is
forecast to happen within eight days," said Geie, the
Italian-French group that manages the Mont Blanc structure.
"Priority has been given to the maintenance of trade flows
between Italy and France".
On Thursday Italian transport ministry sources said work on the
Mt Blanc Tunnel may actually be put off much longer, until
September 2024, with a decision set to be taken by an
intergovernmental conference expected to meet on Monday.
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