Elimination of buses, access points … What will the future rue de Metz look like?
It is a very popular ax, as well by motorists, cyclists as pedestrians. With a passage of 60 buses per hour and nearly 370 motor vehicles, Metz street remains one of the main arteries of downtown Toulouse still open to traffic, connecting the right bank to the left bank of the Garonne via the Pont-Neuf.
But within a few months, it will be completely reorganized, to “become a peaceful sector”, before Julie escudier, the mayor of the Toulouse Center district.
No more buses and regulated traffic
This week, the elected presented the final project to the inhabitants. While the first blows of the pickax should be given next February, the work should be completed within three years.
On that date, the two bus lanes will have disappeared on the portion of the street comprising between the Monument aux Morts and Place Esquirol. There will then be only one vehicle traffic lane limited to 20 km / h. And in the future it will be accessible only to residents, delivery people and emergency services.
“Access terminals will be installed at the entrance to the street, transit traffic will thus be diverted and traffic will certainly be equivalent to that of rue d’Alsace. For the moment, we have not yet finalized the question of the right holders to access this area by car. We want to reduce the flow but not make life impossible for people, ”insists Julie Escudier.
While few cars and motorcycles will be driving on this part of rue de Metz, buses will no longer use it at all. Only the electric shuttle which crisscrosses the city center will now pass through there. While the regulated access for automobile traffic will come into force in 2023 with the closure of the street due to the works, the new network of Tisséo will be done from September 2022, with redesigned lines and a completely bus network. reviewed and corrected.
More pedestrian, more cyclable, yes but …
Once the artery has been freed from this traffic, much emphasis will be placed on soft modes. The sidewalks will be widened and a two-way cycle path will emerge. “It will be materialized by a color. There will be a differentiation of spaces so that everyone can feel safe, ”explains the neighborhood mayor.
A pavement pavement be put in place and nails will materialize, for example, the separation between the lane and the cycle path. All complemented by street furniture and tree planting.
“This revegetation is very pleasant and necessary, it is a positive point. But what is less is the absence of real sidewalks. They will replace them with flat spaces, with different colors, which is insufficient to fight against the intrusions of bicycles and scooters. We fear that this will be very penalizing, in particular for blind people, ”raises Richard Mebaoudj, the departmental president of the 60 Million Pedestrian Association.
Requalification of Croix-Baragnon and Boulbonne streets
The first steps in this vast 12 million euro project will take place next February. Initially, network works and archaeological surveys will take place without the street being closed. The bulk of the development work will take place in 2023 and 2024.
By then, consultation on the requalification of rue Croix-Baragnon and rue Boulbonne will have taken place. A first consultation meeting on a traffic restriction on these two lanes is scheduled for Monday, December 13. And in a few weeks, a consultation will be launched on the development of a cycle path on the rest of the rue de Metz, between Esquirol and the Pont-Neuf.