This year, the operating teams of the GEIE-TMB deploy an investment plan of about 14 million € for the Mont Blanc Tunnel.
The investment plan focuses on three main axes: quality of service to customers, safety of drivers and teams, and environmental preservation.
According to Radio Mont Blanc, to improve the quality of service and safety in the Mont Blanc Tunnel, video and radio systems will be replaced and switched from analog technology to digital technology.
According to Le Dauphine, this technology will offer the possibility of facial recognition of people inside the tunnel, the reading of license plates but also the broadcasting of all radio stations in the vehicles or even the use of mobile phones.
So, the Mont Blanc tunnel will be equipped with new cameras and a radio system that will allow better communication with the drivers, as well as a brand new emergency response vehicle (VPI) for firefighters.
Custom designed, this vehicle will be tested in real-life conditions for several months before the delivery of the two other vehicles. To support the Proteus firefighters of the tunnel, this VPI is equipped with obstacle detection radar and thermal cameras for driving in a smoke-filled environment.
Thanks to this vehicle, the security teams will provide first aid and protect interventions, for example in case of vehicle breakdown. Each vehicle costs approximately €200.000.
Environmental preservation: encourage the use of electric vehicles and soft mobility, to prevent noise and preserving biodiversity
According to the official announcement of ATMB, in 2017 will be installed charging stations for electric vehicles. The GEIE-TMB will install two charging stations for users, one on each platform of the Tunnel:
- On the French side, an agreement with the Syane (Syndicat des Energies et de l'Aménagement Numérique) will allow a quick recharge in 30 minutes.
- On the Italian side, the terminal will allow a standard recharge of one hour. These charging stations will be available this summer 2017.
The GEIE-TMB also invests in new electric minibuses for the evacuation of users in case of an incident as well as for the various transports of teams in the tunnel.
In 2018: to improve the safety in the Mont Blanc tunnel, 500 m of slabs must be changed on the rolling part, which will cause many closures of the Franco-Italian structure.
The users of the Mont-Blanc Tunnel will need to get informed in advance about traffic forecasts before planning a trip. By 2018, the toll gates of the structure could be lowered some nights and even on weekends.
The timetable has not yet been defined, nor even the amount of work.
