Safety gallery works at Rainier III tunnel set to begin
By Megan Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
A decade-long project to build a safety evacuation gallery alongside the Rainier III tunnel has cleared a key legal hurdle, with Cap-d'Ail voting to sell the required subterranean land rights.
After more than ten years in planning, the project to construct a safety gallery alongside the Rainier III tunnel is moving into its active phase. The neighbouring commune of Cap-d'Ail approved the sale of the subsurface land rights at its municipal council meeting on 10 September 2026, removing the final legal obstacle that had been holding up the scheme.
The gallery will run adjacent to the existing tunnel at the Monaco exit point, providing a dedicated evacuation route for drivers and passengers in the event of an incident underground. The Rainier III tunnel carries significant daily traffic between Monaco and the French border at Cap-d'Ail, and the absence of a parallel safety passage has long been flagged as a structural shortcoming by road safety planners on both sides of the border.
The inter-municipal dimension of the project, requiring Cap-d'Ail to cede underground land rights beneath its own territory, explains why progress has been slow. With that agreement now formally ratified, construction works are expected to get under way in the coming months. Residents and commuters who use the tunnel regularly should anticipate some disruption once groundwork begins.