Le Figaro Nice
To discover
Follow all the news of the city of Nice
A bicycle is taking the tram lane, avenue Jean-Médecin, when all of a sudden, its wheels start to shake.
The scooter that follows him does not venture and bypasses the obstacle.
On Wednesday, the roadway of line 1 changed somewhat.
On one stretch, a white coating of molded concrete pebbles stands out.
"We didn't use those on the beach!"
, smiles the deputy for Transport of the city of Nice, Gaël Nofri, in reference to the swell of these last days.
For his presentation, he plays the foreman with a tie.
Behind him, the tram stands out but does not interrupt his talk.
"There is the concern of securing this axis"
, he introduces.
The scourge is well known in Nice.
Too many two-wheelers mistakenly take the Line 1 lane at this busy location.
The request emanates in particular from the drivers of the Lignes d'Azur, too often forced to slow down because of various two-wheeled vehicles.
The ban is not enough, so the metropolis is looking for solutions.
Here it is perhaps: dissuasive coatings.
Three months of testing
A test phase is scheduled from January to March.
Three sections with this coating are installed in the middle of the main aisle between Masséna and Jean-Médecin, historic stops of the Nice tram.
Gaël Nofri pulls out the figures:
“110,000 people a day take line 1, 1,000 bicycles and scooters use this route for 24 accidents a year which cause delays of more than ten minutes, including eight bodily accidents.”
And who says tram slowdowns says loss of money.
"1 km / h less, it's 500,000 euros of lost public money"
, he argues.
To those who have seen in him an anti-bike on social networks in recent days, he specifies:
"It is not a question of preventing cyclists from riding, but of making this route complicated and unattractive for them so that they reorient themselves towards the tracks provided for this purpose.
They will have no more excuses!”
“They are making this development before the cycle paths are finished, in particular the North-South axis
, regrets Juliette Chesnel-Leroux, elected ecologist in the opposition.
This work is not a priority, especially given the indebtedness of the City.
If the test is satisfactory, the device will however be deployed in 27 other locations.
The cost of the work is estimated at 700,000 euros, 70,000 having already been paid for the installation of the first three coatings.
Videoverbalization
But these slabs could have a perverse effect.
The pebbles cast in concrete could make the passage even more accident-prone.
Or, deport the problem to the sidewalk.
"At first, maybe, but after 27, they will quickly understand
," sweeps Gaël Nofri.
In the line of sight, the deliverers of the home catering platforms.
For several years, everything has been done so that they do not pass by the tramway.
This coating is a new example.
Video verbalization on the axis will complete the paraphernalia.
This will concern registered vehicles, bicycles and scooters not being registered, to the regret of Gaël Nofri.
250 cases per day have already been identified for scooters, motorcycles and cars.
"Everything is done to make the network more reliable
," adds Gaël Nofri.
In addition, the elected municipal official who also chairs the Lignes d'Azur board, pleads for the installation of fire radars on the various perpendiculars.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/2C5HI6YHNFHDLJSBNWHOIAS2AE.jpeg)
