It is a street well known to the students of Toulouse 1 Capitole University since it is the most direct axis to access the bars of Saint Peter’s Square.

The Valade Street is therefore a strategic axis in student life. It has also become so for motorists, especially since traffic on rue Pargaminières is regulated by bollards.

4,000 vehicles circulate there every day

On the other side of the coin, according to a count from Toulouse Métropole, 4,000 vehicles pass through this narrow street every day, where the speed is limited to 20 km.

To which must be added the passage of the city center shuttle, a significant number of cyclists, nearly 850 according to Toulouse Métropole, and pedestrians.

“The situation is no longer suitable”

“There is no dedicated cycle path, the roadway is narrow, the wrong way cycle is authorized. This situation leads to numerous conflicts between users. Heavy road traffic penalizes cycling on the road. With the increase in users on two wheels, the situation is no longer suitable. », Notes the City of Toulouse.

Faced with this observation, the town hall decided to change things. Like rue de Metz further south of the city center, in a more modest way, rue Valade will be redeveloped. The project is now on the table and it was presented, Monday, October 18, 2021, to residents.

Bicycle lane

What is he planning? First, the creation of a cycle path “to comfort and encrypt cyclists heading towards Place Saint-Pierre”. This would replace the current contraflow authorized on the roadway. To do this, a row of parking lots would be removed to create the cycle path.

A vegetated border would be created along the cycle path with, in particular, the planting of 6 trees.

A pedestrian platform

To homogenize the physiognomy of rue Valade with its neighbor, rue Pargaminières, and “remind motorists of the priority given to active modes”, the town hall wishes to create a pedestrian plateau, “laid out in cobblestones”.

Finally, it announces that it wants to reorganize the parking lot at Place Anatole France, this place located at the university which allows, according to its wishes, to enhance the plane tree, considered to be the oldest tree in Toulouse.

“Fighting against heat islands”

“Here, it is proposed to protect its root system, to vegetate its edges with grasses and perennials; to set up chairs to take advantage of its freshness and shade ”.

The town hall announces: “We beautify the street, welcome users, bring more nature to the city to fight against heat islands and make rue Valade pleasant and peaceful”.

A larger project, in stages

This rue Valade project is the first step in a larger project being considered for the years to come. A project that is currently working Jeanne Busquets, the town planner who has been transforming Toulouse city center for ten years.

Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse explains the process:

“The idea is to go as far as Saint-Sernin by redeveloping, in the same way as rue Valade, rue Albert Lautman and rue Emile Cartailhac. And more generally to tend towards pedestrianization on an axis which will go from Saint-Cyprien to Saint-Sernin. But to do this, you have to go in stages. The first step, which will be completed on this mandate (ie in 2026, editor’s note) is the redevelopment of rue Valade, then the extension of this development to Saint-Sernin. Also in this mandate, we will lead the redevelopment of the Saint-Pierre bridge.

A redevelopment that would not go as far as pedestrianization at this stage of the reflection, as the idea had been mentioned during the municipal campaign.

Plan: here is the project for rue Valade, from Place Saint-Pierre to Toulouse 1 Capitole University

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