Route nationale 9

The Route nationale 9, or ''RN 9'', was a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Moulins and the frontier with Spain.

Reclassification

Much of the route of the RN 9 has now been/or in the process of being upgraded or replaced by the A75 autoroute in particular the section south of Clermont Ferrand to Béziers. Depending on which Department the road is in the old road is now numbered as various RD numbers:
* RD 2009 in Allier
* RD 2009 in Puy-de-Dôme (with some exceptions like RD 2019 in Aigueperse, RD 2029 in Riom, RD 2099 in south-eastern Clermont-Ferrand)
* RD 978 between exits 2 and 6 of A75 autoroute
* RD 797 between exits 6 and 8 of A75 autoroute
* RD 716 in Issoire
* RD 909 from southern Issoire to boundary 63/43, in Haute-Loire and in Cantal
* RD 809 in Lozère and Aveyron
* RD 609 in Hérault
* RD 900 in Pyrénées-Orientales

Route

Moulins-Clermont Ferrand-Béziers- Narbonne - Perpignan - ''Spain''

Moulins to Clermont Ferrand (0 km to 103 km)

The road begins at Moulins with a junction with the RN 7. The road heads Southwest over the river Allier. The road follows the West bank of the river to Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule crossing the river and following it South. At Gannat the road meets the A 719, which connects Vichy, 20 km to the East, and the A71 autoroute. The RN 9 continues South to Riom and the volcanic region of Auvergne. The road is dual-carriageway for 10 km into the industrial city of Clermont-Ferrand.

Clermont Ferrand to Béziers (103 km to 444 km)

After Clermont the road heads through the Massif Central countryside. Much of the RN 9 has now been upgraded or replaced by the A75 autoroute between Clermont-Ferrand and Béziers.

The original RN 9 has now been renumbered the RD 909,RD 809 and D 2009 and passes through small villages and towns bypassed by the autoroute ''La Méridienne'' which now takes the majority of through traffic. The route follows the upper Allier valley to Issoire before joining the ''Gorges de l'Allagnon'' and then climbing to cross the ''Col de Fageole'' (1114 m) and onto Saint-Flour and the ''Gorges de l’Ander''. The old RN 9 then follows the banks of the dammed river Truyère under the '' Viaduc de Garabit''.

The countryside is very scenic consisting of rolling green wooded hills and steep sided river vallies. The road has a junction with the RN 106 at Saint-Chély-d'Apcher. The road then crosses the ''Col des Issartets'' (1121 m) after which the former route of the RN 9 passes to the East of the autoroute passing through the small town of Marvejols and into the Lot valley.

The road then enters ''Causse'' country a series of barren limestone plateaux divided by deep river valleys. The road passes between the ''Causse de Sévérac'' and ''Causse de Sauveterre'' before reaching Sévérac-le-Château and the RN 88 which heads to the West.

The road passes the source of the Aveyron and into the ''Parc Natural Régional des Grandes Causses''. After crossing the ''Col d'Engayresque'' (888 m) the RN 9 re-appears and drops into the Gorges du Tarn and onto Millau where the road crosses the river and climbs up to the ''Causse du Larzac'' offering views of the valley and viaduct. The RN 9 provides a trunk road route avoiding the toll on the Autoroute A 75 as it crosses the valley on the Viaduc de Millau. The RN 9 has again been replaced by the A 75 for this section.

At the ''Pas de l'Escalette'' just South of Le Caylar Roches the road enters a gorge leading South off the Causse du Larzac and on toward the coastal plain and the Mediterranean. Historically, RN 9 used to cross the river Lergue at Pegairolles de l'Escalette and follow what is now the treacherous D 149 and D 151 right through the city of Lodève. After a series of improvements starting in the late 1960s, the road now stays on the left bank of the Lergue and by-passes Lodève through the Tunnel de la Vierge. It skirts the Lac du Salagou (which it once ran right through) before reaching Clermont L'Hérault and a junction with the RN 109 to Montpellier. The RN 9 demerges from the A75 autoroute again at Clermont-l'Hérault, and follows the Hérault

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