As I understood it, what VWF meant is that when you take the shortcut cross-country from KM408 just after the last dunes and head SE towards Atar, at some stage before the original N1 piste on map below - you encounter a new road from Atar direct to Choum and eventually Zouerat (as mentioned here) where the Bab map shows the planned road.
There were always tracks here as it was a direct way to Choum (and the train) from Atar. The current N1 goes east of the ridge for Zouerat, avoiding Choum.
The railway today cuts a corner of the PFZ west of the ridge on it's way to Zouerat mines. But in the 1960s when PFZ was Spanish Rio de Oro province, out of spite (it's said) the French build a 2-km tunnel under/around the corner, rather than accept Spain's conditions to cross their territory. Probably the same reason the N1 goes west of the ridge. Google 'Choum tunnel'.
You wonder if the new road might follow the rails via PFZ briefly, or just squeeze through.
(Fyi, a pre-Islamic crescent tomb 3km north of the old tunnel's northern exit).
Last edited by Chris Scott; 23 Apr 2016 at 14:26.
|