The commute into the Principality of Monaco via the A8 was near impossible for drivers on the morning of Monday 9th September after all three lanes of traffic in the eastbound direction were closed due to an incident involving a HGV lorry and two buses in the Ricard tunnel.  

At around 6.30am on Monday 9th September, a HGV lorry is believed to have crashed inside the Ricard tunnel, which lies shortly after the No.58 Monaco-Est exit. Two buses are also understood to have been involved, with the Nice Matin reporting that one passenger suffered minor injuries.  

In comments made to the Radio Trafic news station, a spokesperson for Vinci Autoroutes confirmed that there had been some damage to the cables in the tunnel, which could be seen hanging from the roof and lying partially on the ground in security camera footage shared online.  

All three lanes were closed in the aftermath of the accident and a diversion via the No.57 La Turbie exit was soon put in place, but not before a considerable backlog of traffic had built up as far back as the No.52 Nice Saint-Isidore exit. According to some of those who were caught up in the jam, it took as long as two hours to get from Nice to Monaco.

Vinci Autoroutes reopened two of the lanes shortly after 10.40am, but there were still hundreds of vehicles sitting in near stationary traffic at 11am. 

To view the traffic situation in real-time, click here.

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