It’s the big traffic jam at the entrance to the municipal pound on Avenue des Etats-Unis in Toulouse. According to the latest count from the town hall, 870 vehicles parked here and there in the city, in the streets as well as in the car parks of private condominiums, and which have been reported by local residents for their prolonged presence, waiting to be evacuated. This is a little better than last year, when the list reached 1,000 vehicles, but it is still not enough to quickly remove troublesome and abandoned vehicles. “This clearly shows the need,” recalls Emilion Esnault, deputy mayor in charge of security.

Abandoned Lafourguette

The pound is saturated and the problem is not new. Since an extension of one hundred places in 2016, the site has 472 places. Each year, an average of 10,000 vehicles pass through the pound. For 2022, as of August 31, it had already received 9,455. Of these, 2,419 were destroyed after expertise and at the end of a fairly long procedure. And around 6,800 have been recovered by their owners.

Because different types of vehicles land on Avenue des Etats-Unis. Those that are removed during daily or urgent operations: for the installation of a market, the passage of garbage trucks, construction sites, various events, official trips… These vehicles are in principle taken back quickly, in two or three days. And those who are deactivated from abusive parking (more than seven days at a location): vehicles left during a departure on vacation, by students during their week in Toulouse, but also abandoned, stolen vehicles… There are also finally the vehicles seized by the courts for a rodeo for example, etc.

A car impounded for improper parking, especially if it is abandoned, stays there on average for thirty days. It’s a lot and it doesn’t allow enough rotation. Hence the congestion. When the city plans to move all the cars from a perimeter due to an event, the municipal authorities must, several days in advance, ease off on the impoundments to make room.

In June 2021, the town hall entered the search for a second site with 300 to 350 places. The land approached at the corner of Avenue Einsenhower and Route de Seysses, in Lafourguette, which had provoked strong opposition from residents, has just been abandoned during the last municipal council meeting on November 9. The elected officials adopted a completely different procedure. A call for tenders has been issued to private fourierists. Advantage: once the contract has been concluded with the candidate who will be selected, this solution will be directly applicable, a priori at the start of 2023. This may be the end of a long tunnel for the pound.