A3 autoroute
controlled-access highway from Paris to the A1 near Le Bourget Airport
The A3 Autoroute is a French autoroute located entirely within the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, serving Montreuil, Rosny-sous-Bois, and Bondy. Its southern terminus is an interchange with the Boulevard Périphérique at the Porte de Bagnolet, and its northern terminus is an interchange with the A1 near Aéroport CDG. The A3 is 18 km long, and forms a part of European Route E15. A brief segment of its length is a concurrency with the A86. The first section of the roadway opened in 1969 between the Porte de Bagnolet and Bondy. Following the closure of the A186, one spur route branches off from the A3 - the A103 Autoroute.
The A186 Autoroute was originally planned to connect the A3 with the A86 - however this spur was never completed. It closed in May 2019, and will be converted into an extension of Île-de-France tramway Line 1 by 2024.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “A3 autoroute” is controlled-access highway from Paris to the A1 near Le Bourget Airport. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through autoroute, controlled-access and highway, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “controlled-access highway from Paris to the A1 near Le Bourget Airport” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q788719. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1969, 2019 and 2024.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “A3 autoroute”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow A3 autoroute primary sources, A3 autoroute archive and autoroute research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “A3 autoroute”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “A3 autoroute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.