Le Figaro Marseille
LE FIGARO. - You announced
six new public transport projects
.
For what ?
Martine VASSAL. -
At the last meeting on the transport aspect of the “Marseille en grand” plan, I suggested working on the sequel, because if we wait until everything is finished to start the sequel, we will have a hiatus.
However, we have a gap of fifty years to catch up on.
So we worked with the technical services to see what needed to be pushed the most.
The mayor of Marseille
(
Benoît Payan
, Editor's note)
said one thing: he wants to open up the northern districts, and what interests him are the projects we are carrying out today.
As president of an institution, what interests me is of course keeping my commitments but also working on the future!
I don't want there to be any cuts!
Let's take advantage now that things are underway to study for the future!
But why these projects, precisely?
And why not ?
In the opening up of Marseille, it is clear that there are places where it is difficult to get around.
So we targeted the east, the south and the southeast, because there is nothing.
You have to open up to be able to go to the beach by public transport.
And in everything that the metropolis has planned to do in its mobility plan, these projects are important in the network.
Do you think you have done enough for the northern districts? Benoît Payan insists that this must remain the priority...
Tell me what more I can do in the northern neighborhoods!
Let him give me the lines, the places where I have to go.
If he has any magical ideas, give them to me!
Today, as a transport organizer, what I tell you is that we must open up the south and the east.
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In the coming month, can I get a response from the mayor of Marseille to know where to go?
Martine Vassal, president of the Aix-Marseille metropolis and the Bouches-du-Rhône department
Who were these new projects discussed with?
Upstream, we proposed these projects to the Secretary of State in charge of the “Marseille en Grand” plan.
We spoke with Sabrina Agresti-Roubache and her collaborators.
I co-chair the public interest group (GIP) with the State.
We work collaboratively.
Last time, I said that we were going to study to prepare for the future.
I prepared studies.
I presented them.
How are you !
In the coming month, can I get a response from the mayor of Marseille to know where to go?
It's up to him to tell us.
What I would like is to activate everything at the same time, like I did for the rest.
He will perhaps tell me that he is not interested in going in this or that direction.
At that point, we will tell the residents:
“Sorry, we can’t go in this direction because the mayor doesn’t want to.”
The mayor of Marseille explained that he discovered these projects during the meeting...
I don't think he's discovering them since he voted for the mobility plan in December 2021 during a metropolitan council meeting and these projects were in it.
If he wants to add projects, let him add them!
But tell me where!
He didn't offer anything.
He said he agreed with the plans.
Whether he tells me he agrees or not.
If he doesn't want these projects, let him tell me.
And if he wants more, let me know too!
But for now, he says nothing.
I don't see how he could not agree to also open up the east and the south.
Normally, when you are mayor, you are mayor of the entire city!
We are not mayor of a single district.
I am president of the metropolis and of the entire department.
Like the 15 projects validated by Emmanuel Macron in 2021, we have the feeling that these new projects are once again not coordinated with the mayor of Marseille...
It's wrong.
I set a course and the details can be seen later in the study.
And they agree, too!
When you read the reports of the steering committees, I don't quite find what I read in the letters or the press...
Why does the tramway you want to build on the Corniche appear on the map revealed Thursday during the meeting, but not in the list of new projects?
It's to do !
The mayor told me that he did not want a tram on the Corniche.
You have to think about it.
You have to open up the south to go to the beaches.
Where do we go?
There are not 36 paths.
We could have added the tram.
We thought about it.
I didn't want to argue.
I want to move forward.
If I had put the Corniche tramway in place, Benoît Payan would surely have gotten on his high horse and said:
“The Corniche, I don't want it!
I have already told you !"
In the study, there will certainly also be the Corniche which will be mentioned.
You have to talk about everything.
But I didn't want him to turn away.