For centuries, until the 1850s, the Queyras was lacking passable roads. This situation was not unique in the Alps. Then, the valleys were related to each other by paths, some of which were metalled and remained, using public men and pack animals, mules, mules, donkeys, horses : Hence the name "mule trails" that is given.
In Gallo-Roman Escoyères were accessed, the center of Queyras, two paths that avoided the Gorges du Guil: one from Guillestre another Eygliers. The second, which borrowed the right bank, is believed he is the oldest. He leaves Eygliers, to hamlets of Big and Pra-Riont. Then it rises into the forest, goes to Girard, Chaston, Villeneuve, Garnier reached the pass (2280 m) and from there into the valley of Furfande, located in the town of Arvieux, and Escoyères . This ancient path is now the GR 541; the path of great Hiking, who joins the GR 58 and GR 5.
The trail rises into the left side of the mountain Guillestre up the "Vista" (or, in French, "Sight"), where we have a wonderful view over the valley Durance and Guil Gorge. Then it descends to the House of Roy by steps cut into the rock. The move, called the turnstiles, was very dangerous in winter. The mule blankets stretched out on the ice of fear that their animal does not slip into the abyss near. After the stone bridge (built in stone in 1460), the present road follows the bottom of the Combe. The old path was over, to mid slope, and repeatedly crossed the Guil, from one bank to another to avoid areas too dangerous, which, a few kilometers upstream of the House of Roy, the claim "no death , where travelers were exposed, wet weather or during periods of thaw, avalanches or falling rocks.
In 1783, according to the priest Albert, there were about twenty bridges on the Guil. On the map of Dauphine, drawn by Jean de Beins in 1633, are represented eight bridges between the Maison du Roy and the Guardian Angel. At the end of the XIXth, there were only six. Pillars remain downstream of the Guardian Angel.
Trails and bridges were often damaged. Under the ancien regime, maintenance of trails and bridges in the Combe was the cause of many disputes between communities and those of the Queyras and Guillestre Eygliers, must understand why. The trail was on the territory of the Community and Guillestre Eygliers but it was mainly used by Queyrassins, which on several occasions, have given notice and communities Guillestre Eygliers and authorities to repair the trail and bridges, as shown by the records of Queyras: "1750: application to the Minister, Marquis d'Argenson, to obtain relief to restore bridges Combe away. The Combe is dangerous ... Seven or eight times a year, one is obliged to send 80 men to repair the roads in order to draw out the need for both the garrison is in the valley for its inhabitants "(quoted by Tivollier, The Queyras, II, p 331).
These problems arise from road still in the Queyras at the end of each winter, after a flood or an avalanche where you have to clear the road, repair, rebuild a dam. The terrible flood of 1957 took away large portions of the road and many bridges.
Work to fill the Queyras of roads started in 1833. Road was inaugurated in Chateau-Queyras in 1855. An engraving, reproduced in Le Queyras General William, was made the occasion to record the event. Six years ago, in 1849, carriages pulled by horses were circulated for the first time between Old Town and shelter. It took eight years from 1845 to 1853 to build the road to Old Town in Saint-Veran. In 1852, Arvieux road was opened, in 1903, that of Roux Abriès in 1911, that of Murten. In 1864, further work has been done to move the road between Needles and Old Town on the right bank of the Guil, where it still is.
Until 1911, the road Queyras was drawn out of Guillestre until the House of Roy, on the ancient trail. To avoid the turnstiles and allow passage of automobiles, each new road was built lower down in the cliff, which required the drilling of four tunnels. In the twentieth s, other roads have been constructed: that of the top Bucher, the Col Izoard, that of Escoyères (the carriage road was built in 1967 by the residents themselves), the Col Agnel (tourist route open only in summer, which opened recently). To this should be added the old project, a veritable sea serpent, road and tunnel under the collar Cross to link to the Queyras Piedmont valleys nearby.
This work, which lasted for over a century and a half, gradually broke the isolation of Queyras. Economic relations with the valley of the Durance and the rest of France have intensified at the expense of traditional relations with the Piedmont valleys, which have declined and almost virtually ceased in recent times. In addition, construction of roads has had an impact on activity. S in the nineteenth, in villages, artisans were making dresses, headpieces, lace, utensils kitchen, to meet the needs of the people of Queyras. The road has allowed the introduction of manufactured goods, less expensive, which ruined the small local craft. In addition to these economic consequences, the road has had effects on demography. In 1831, the Queyras had 7637 inhabitants. Fifty years later, in 1881, there were only 5032 inhabitants. While the road was supposed to boost the economy of the valley, making travel easier, it also prompted Queyrassins to leave their village.
