Le Figaro Nantes
«
Little Holland deserves better than a very large open-air car park." This Friday morning, in a Nantes café located on the same square, the socialist mayor of Nantes unveiled a new copy of the transformation of this emblematic place of the city of the Dukes. Located near the Quai de la Fosse, the Léo Lagrange swimming pool and Feydeau-Commerce, the main lines of this future "plant archipelago" had already been announced in 2019.
This summer, Johanna Rolland had a click and said that we had to go further: "this project is a new version that I wanted to be more ambitious, especially on ecological issues". More vegetation, trees planted... However, some things have not changed regarding this "ecological bifurcation project" whose cost is estimated at 70 million euros: the market will be maintained, unlike the 1200 parking spaces that will not be kept.
" READ ALSO "We will pay for a degraded service": in this district of Nantes, parking becomes paid and places are scarce
600 fewer places in 2026
By 2026, when work begins, 600 places will have disappeared. "This project is symbolic of the transformation of the city," commented Denis Tallédec, city councillor and delegate for traffic and parking, namely the reduction of the car in public space. Where will the vehicles park? "Our goal is to encourage visitors to park on the exteriors to promote parking for residents. It is necessary to optimize the existing places, "continued the elected official.
«
We choose to develop soft modes of transport, cycling, walking, carpooling, park-and-ride facilities... The answer in terms of parking is not thought exclusively on the scale of Little Holland, "insisted the Nantes mayor, supporter of a gathering of the left and ecologists. And to add that this subject had been "posed in full transparency at the time of the municipal campaign and submitted to universal suffrage".
In this future square, pedestrians will have priority. TER Agency
Traffic routes will also be reduced. "We keep a crossing of the square by car, following the route of the boulevard of the United Nations," detailed Henri Bava, landscaper and co-founder of the agency TER, who worked on the new version. This single carriageway will be reduced to 2 X 1 lane (and no longer 2 X 2 lanes as today). "The idea is to eventually have clear, pedestrianized, renatured banks of the Loire, where you can walk." This is part of this spirit of "ecological reconquest from the river to Feydeau, with plant islands".
See alsoInclusive and vegetated playgrounds are gradually being rolled out in Nantes
Tomorrow it will be 8 degrees cooler in summer thanks to nature
Johanna Rolland, Mayor (PS) of the city of Nantes
«
Today, Little Holland is a car park that is one of the largest heat islands in the metropolis. Tomorrow, it will be 8 degrees less in summer thanks to nature, "said Johanna Rolland. Nearly 600 trees will be planted in addition to the existing 350. In total, nearly 1000 trees will allow visitors to make this place a "refuge from the heat wave in summer". In the future, this place with porous soil for the sake of water recovery, will consist of 4 hectares of nature (one hectare more than in the project announced in 2019). Locals can also enjoy a sports course around Gloriette Island.
The traditional open-air market, of about 12,000 square meters, will be slightly moved. "We will keep the same surface in a much more elongated configuration, which will take us from the end of beyond the media library, to the Fnac," described Hervé Fournier, municipal councillor and delegate for markets. So that merchants will be more connected to cafes and shops, near the tram.
" READ ALSO How the mayor of Nantes seeks to restore the image of his city
The opposition rises to the niche
«
Revegetation, location of the market, traffic routes, work schedule, cost of the project, the novelties are numerous and actually constitute a new development project, "denounced this Friday afternoon in a press release Julien Bainvel, councillor (LR) of Nantes Métropole, and Alain Vey, mayor (various right) of Basse-Goulaine, discovering through the press the changes. Both participated in all the meetings of the jury of the competition elected by the metropolitan council.
They castigate the fact of not having "been associated, or even informed of what Johanna Rolland presents as evolutions and which are in reality a profound modification of the project". "Once again, an ecological project is reviewed demonstrating that the initial ambition was in fact not up to the stakes," they deplore before pointing to the calendar: "Once again, a major metropolitan project of the mandate will not see the light of day. We will have to wait until 2028 at best." Initially, the horizon 2025 had been mentioned. Finally, calls for tenders should take place within two years. The delivery will take place during the next mandate.
