Tired of taking 1 hour to reach Toulouse city center, these inhabitants increase the tone
By Maxence Dourlen
Published on
The years go by and the problems pile up on the side of Lespinasse (Haute-Garonne). Located north of Toulousethe municipality is far from being the best served in the agglomeration… And that is starting to do for the association “ Let’s rekindle the star », the inhabitants, but also the elected officials of the municipality and its surroundings.
Saturday, June 25, 2022, they were just over 150 to demand a rail stop, an “essential project” for everyone’s comfort. And the establishment of a Toulouse-style RER which offered a better frequency of trains, especially at peak times.
“Our territory is not a sub-territory. It has the right, like the whole of the metropolitan territory, to benefit from investments for mobility! »
” It’s now or never ! »
Mobilized for fifteen years, the population intends to make things happen quickly. ” It’s now or never ! », proclaims Christophe Duffrechou, head of the citizen collective “Lespinasse, a stopover if not beware! “.
“Even on Saturdays, it’s jammed with the traffic generated by the Fenouillet commercial area! It has become unlivable. There are problems every day outside the school period… And again! »
More than 30,000 vehicles would use the various axes every day to reach or leave the town. “It’s really saturated everywhere! “, plague the association.
Almost an hour drive
Faced with the saturation of traffic in the area, the inhabitants of Lespinasse do not have many alternatives for getting around and reaching the center of Toulouse in particular.
“If it’s jammed, it takes me 5 or 6 times longer to reach my workplace, the member of the association is annoyed. My wife, who works at the prefecture, has to drive to La Vache station and then take the metro. Almost 50 minutes by car and an hour in total to reach his place of work! And if she wants to take the bus, it becomes endless…”
“We are no longer in speculation but reality. However, this stopover project that all the actors of the Metropolis and the Region have deemed necessary has still not been acted upon. The north of Toulouse can no longer be forgotten in the development of alternative modes of transport. »
The population explosion at the heart of the problem?
Lespinasse, Fenouillet, Saint-Jory… Thousands of people could potentially be affected by this railway stop. “We’re not asking for much,” continues Christophe Duffrechou. Just one train stop with a TER every 15 minutes…”
The demographic explosion of recent years in the sector is obviously not unrelated to the concerns encountered by the inhabitants. “There are buildings all around the town. It is felt on the traffic…”
A problem shared by students in the sector, also relegated to tens of minutes from their home establishment, the Lycée Général et Technologique Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (58 minutes to reach it by transport).
What solutions?
Annoyed by negotiations that are not progressing around this railway stop, Christophe Duffrechou knows that time is running out and calls on the Occitanie Region to move the project forward.
“If this project does not succeed, we will create problems. »
“Everyone agrees that it would be helpful, but no one signs on to get things done,” he says. We are going to double the tracks in front of us with the GPSO project (Toulouse-Bordeaux LGV) and then it will be too late, we won’t be able to modify anything because it will be too expensive. »
There remains to be determined a crucial factor in this case: the funding. And for the moment, no lead on this subject…
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