In order to ensure the continuity of the numbers, following the opening of the section between the Saint-Julien-Sancy interchange and the Combronde junction in early 2006, the common core of the A71 motorway now bears both names (A71-A89), while the A710 and A72 autoroutes between Clermont-Ferrand and Balbigny, have been renamed the A89.

It is also nicknamed the Autoroute des Présidents[1] because it crosses the fiefdoms of several French Presidents, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Jacques Chirac and Francois Hollande, and it passes close to that of Georges Pompidou.

[3] Work began on 28 June 2008 with the digging of the first 3.9 km tunnel between Violay (Loire) and Joux (Rhône).

This 196-meter-long, 21.55-meter-wide structure, costing €11 million, was built by Eiffage Travaux Publics, Eiffel Construction Métallique and the Forézienne d'Entreprises.

Despite the refusal by the associations, including a coordinating committee against the highway in Beaujolais (3CAB), which preferred the development of a national road with 2 × 2 lanes, the preliminary design studies summary still took place in 1997.

The procedure, leading to a declaration for public use, was not pursued according to a press release of 5 January 1999, following environmental difficulties as contained in the CIADT of 15 December 1998.

The 4.5 km section was inaugurated on 7 February 2015 by François Hollande, President of the Republic, and put into service on 17 April 2015.

Municipal councilors, associations,[9] the Urban Community of Lyon chaired by Gérard Collomb, the Rhône Department and other organizations opposed this connection by proposing an alternative to Anse/Quincieux (A46N), which would have reduced the traffic from the A89 on the already saturated Tunnel de Fourvière.