And this is how the France Alps give us a good impression with Col du Galibier | August 2023

The Col du Galibier (French for “Pass of Galibier”) is a mountain pass in the French Alps. The pass road leading over the Col was built in 1876 and, with an altitude of 2642 m (according to older data, 2645 m), is the fifth highest paved road pass in the Alps as of autumn 2007. The D 902 departmental road over the pass connects the two departments of Savoie in the north and Hautes-Alpes in the south, whose border runs along the top of the pass. At the same time, the Galibier also separates the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the north from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in the south, as well as the (former) areas of Franco-Provençal and Occitan. In addition to this cultural boundary, which is also visible in the construction of the houses, the climatic boundary between the wetter northern Alpine and the drier Mediterranean climate runs across the pass.

Opening of the pass road in 1876
After widening the last hairpin bends of the old mule track over the Col du Galibier, the first passable pass road between the Maurienne and the Briançonnais or .dem Oisans was opened in 1876. To the north, the pass road begins in the winter sports resort of Valloire, which can only be reached via the Col du Télégraphe, which is located in front of the Galibier and connects Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne with Valloire. In the south, the road up to the Galibier begins at the Col du Lautaret, 2057 m above sea level, which connects Grenoble in the west with Briançon in the east. The culmination of this first pass road over the Galibier was at an altitude of 2658 m, 16 meters higher than today’s pass. The entire pass road between Valloire and the Col du Lautaret is 24.5 kilometres long, of which 16 kilometres are on the north ramp and 8.5 kilometres on the south ramp. The road over the Galibier was initially designed as a dirt road and only recently asphalted.

Construction and commissioning of the summit tunnel in 1890/1891
Because the passage of the Galibier was very difficult even after the construction of the road – especially in the steep summit area – work began in 1890 on the construction of a 363-metre-long summit tunnel, which was opened in 1891. The tube, which is only four metres wide, has a single lane and can therefore only be used alternately in one direction at a time. The new tunnel crosses the mountain massif at an altitude of 2556 m, which also reduced the culmination point of the Galibier Pass road by 102 meters compared to the old pass. The newly built tunnel also shortened the entire length of the pass by 1.5 kilometres to 23 kilometres. Of this, 15 kilometres were now accounted for by the north ramp, 7.5 kilometres by the south ramp and just under half a kilometre by the roughly horizontal apex tunnel.

From 1911 to 1976, the summit tunnel was repeatedly used by the Tour de France cycling race.

Reactivation of the crest line in 1976

Signage at the apex
Because the summit tunnel, built in 1890/1891, fell into disrepair over the years, it was decided to bypass it and reactivate the apex section over the actual pass that had already been used in the years 1876 to 1890. This route has been generously expanded and since 1976 has connected the two portals of the Galibier Tunnel above ground. The top of the pass was partly removed to create a plateau for a small parking lot. For this reason, the culmination point of the Galibier Pass road has since been located at an altitude of 2642 m, which is 16 metres lower than the historic pass crossing and only 89 metres higher than the tunnel previously used. The old summit tunnel was shut down for safety reasons after the completion of the new route. Since then, the pass road has returned to its original length of 24.5 kilometres.

Reopening of the tunnel in 2002

North portal of the Tunnel du Galibier
In 2002, the Galibier Tunnel was surprisingly reopened after a thorough renovation, and since then two alternative routes have been available to traffic over the Galibier in the summit area. However, cyclists have been prohibited from passing through the tunnel since it was reopened, and pedestrians are not allowed to walk on it either. The traffic light, which regulates the alternating one-way traffic through the tube and the junction of the new and old lines on both sides of the Galibier Tunnel, is the highest traffic light system in Europe with its location at an altitude of 2556 m. The entire Valloire–Col du Lautaret pass section is closed to vehicles heavier than 19 tonnes or higher than 4.10 metres. In addition, a maximum permissible gross vehicle weight of 3.5 tonnes applies to the above-ground apex section, and heavier vehicles must use the tunnel.