A good part of the mayors of Val-d'Oise are claiming victory this weekend.
They learned on Saturday that the state was ending the project to create a reserved lane for carpooling on the A15 motorway.
It was to be the first experience of its kind in Ile-de-France.
“I am happy with the news that the Prefect announced to me: the reserved lane project on the A15, against which I fought, has been definitively abandoned.
I thank all those who mobilized, in particular Valérie Pécresse and the collective of mayors ”, reacted Marie-Christine Cavecchi (LR), president of the departmental council of Val-d'Oise, in a press release.
"An awareness of the difficulties that this posed to cities"
The prefect called several elected officials to pass on the news to them.
This originates from a decision of the Prime Minister.
But no one knows for what reason the State chose to abandon this project when everything was ready to implement it.
"I think there was an awareness of the difficulties that this posed to the cities all around", estimates Marie-Christine Cavecchi.
Pressure from elected officials has certainly played a role.
“I think it's a bit of a whole.
There was a real mobilization of public opinion, believes Xavier Melki (LR), mayor of Franconville.
I dare not think that the political calendar comes into play.
"
Mayors, local elected officials, Valdoisiens were heard.
No lane removal on the A15.
Thanks to @vpecresse and @mc_cavecchi for their invaluable support.
Let us continue to work on useful, more numerous, more responsible transport solutions without harming people's lives.
pic.twitter.com/tt9hSOtpHS
- Xavier MELKI (@xaviermelki) April 25, 2021
The reaction of many elected officials had been as quick as it was frankly hostile to this project, once it had been known in early February. “On Wednesday, we found out when we saw the signs popping up on the highway. Three days later, we had a press conference in Franconville with Valérie Pécresse. It was really spontaneous, ”emphasizes Marie-Christine Cavecchi. About forty mayors were present around the president (Free!) Of the region that day. “We believe in carpooling. But I do not believe in forced carpooling, ”she explained then, believing that this measure would worsen traffic jams. A petition launched shortly after gathered more than 3,000 signatures.
However, this project aimed precisely to resolve the thorny question of saturation in the morning (in the Cergy-Paris direction) and in the evening (in the other direction) of the A15 motorway, used daily by some 190,000 vehicles.
On an 8 km section going from the Gennevilliers viaduct to Franconville, the left lane would have been reserved for cars carrying at least two people and a few other categories of vehicles (those with low CO2 emissions, public transport, taxis, etc.).
This measure had to be active at certain times (at the time of usual traffic jams) and accompanied by a speed limit of 50 km / h.
This was an experimental measure scheduled for three years from October 2021.
Millions of euros spent on an aborted project
"Me, I regret that we were not more concerted, underlines Xavier Melki. If we had been consulted earlier, we might have saved an expense of 5 million euros. We had a quick meeting where the representatives of the territory expressed a very clear refusal. After that, nothing more until we see the works along the highway. The Direction des routes d'Ile-de-France (Dirif) then presented its project in early March, confirming that it would take place. "We were told: see with the regional prefect," remembers Xavier Melki.
The mayor of Franconville feared that this project would relive motorists the same inconvenience as when several lanes of the Gennevilliers viaduct had been neutralized to carry out work on a retaining wall.
“Two years ago, it was a real disaster, underlines Xavier Melki.
With this experience, it was absurd to want to start over.
"
Marie-Christine Cavecchi specifies that the traffic difficulties on the A15 generally have repercussions on the roads which cross the municipalities which border it.
"The mayor of Argenteuil was crazy because his town was bottled," she recalls.
Interviewed at the time, Klaxit, Karos and Blablalines, three carpooling players in Ile-de-France, were very enthusiastic about this project. “The dedicated channel will be a giant advertisement and a formidable communication tool to make us known,” declared Julien Honnart from Klaxit at the time. He believes that motorists caught in traffic would then have been encouraged to use carpooling to be able to travel faster. Marie-Christine Cavecchi is more reserved. “At the departmental council, we have people who have offered to transport colleagues. In a year, we haven't had a single request, ”she laments.
