A8 autoroute

The A8 autoroute, also known as La Provençale, is a 224-kilometer (139 mi) long highway in France that runs between Aix-en-Provence and the A7 to the Côte d'Azur.

The A8 is an extension of the A7 starting to the west of Aix-en-Provence at La Fare-les-Oliviers. The road passes through the Departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes. It serves the towns of Aix-en-Provence, Fréjus, Saint-Raphaël, Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton before crossing the border where it becomes the A10 in Italy. It crosses the mountain ranges of Sainte-Baume and of Maures between Aix-en-Provence and Fréjus and the Massif de l'Esterel between Saint-Raphaël and Cannes. Following the Grande Corniche the road offers panoramas of the sea between Nice and Menton.

Whilst the route now starts to the west of Aix-en-Provence, according to the 3rd edition (1973) of the Michelin Atlas des autoroutes de France, the A8 used to start just west of Coudoux. Indeed, the toll fees were listed as being 2FF from Coudoux to Aix-en-Provence in 1973.

• 2x3 lanes from Coudoux (the junction with the A7 to La Barque (junction with the A52).
• 2x2 lanes from La Barque to Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (being expanded to 2x3 lanes) increases to 2x3 lanes at Cagnes-sur-Mer.
• 2x4 lanes from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Saint-Laurent-du-Var (the road enters the Nice conurbation).
• 2x2 lanes in the section through the southern Alps from Nice Saint-Augustin to the frontier with Italy, this section has 15 tunnels. There is a speed limit of 90 km/h in the tunnels (70 km/h for large vehicles).

The road has heavy traffic all year round and is especially congested in July and August, in particular around Antibes and Nice. As a result, traffic-management schemes have been adopted between Var to Nice-West similar to those on the Péripherique in Paris. The autoroute is regularly closed on the Nice-Menton section as a result of rock falls onto the carriageways. The sections crossing the Maures and L'Esterel mountains are at risk from forest fires in summer.

• 1956: Creation of Escota, a company to be in charge of all the sections from Aix-en-Provence to the Italian Frontier.
• 1961: Opening of the toll sections of Fréjus through Mandelieu-la-Napoule to Cagnes-sur-Mer (exit 46).
• 1969: Opening of the toll section from Roquebrune to the Italian frontier (initially only one carriageway and for lightweight vehicles. Then, in 1970, both carriageways were opened).
• 1971–1974: Staged opening of the sections between Aix-en-Provence and Fréjus.
• 1976: Opening of the section between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Roquebrune (partly one carriageway only—the doubling of some tunnels was completed as late as 1988).

• Autoroute A8 on Saratlas