Réseau Express Vélo in Toulouse: extensive consultation with the public to identify and fill gaps
Consultation with the public on the Métropole’s Express Bike Network has begun. The cyclists approve of the approach, while regretting a relative lack of resources.
Some bike paths are starting to (really) see each other. Along the Canal du Midi, Boulevard de la Marquette in Toulouse, a large track equipped with an impressive white separator was opened the week of November 14. Between the departmental council and the Béarnais bridge, this track is added to the edges of the canal, barely cutting into the roadway for cars. A section of the Réseau Express Vélo on the scale of the agglomeration, on an emblematic section, because until now reserved for queen cars.
14 lines reserved for bicycles
At the same time, in a few meeting rooms in the Métropole, in Tournefeuille, in Blagnac, soon in Castelginest and Toulouse, dozens, hundreds of cyclists, residents, citizens, came to meet the elected officials and engineers of Toulouse Métropole . The aim is to continue consultation on the Express Bike Network led with the mayors, since 2021 by the vice-president in charge of new mobility, Maxime Boyer, and continued with the Union of neighborhood committees and the Development Committee (Codev ) of the Metropolis. The REV is 14 lines reserved for bicycles, secure and continuous, and nearly 440 km depending on the cities of the Metropolis and the agglomeration.
A cyclist: “We warned about the need to build tracks. Today we are in the wall”
Last Wednesday in Blagnac, the cyclists present, members in particular of the association “2 Pieds 2 Roues” but not only, noted the urgency. “On the alert about the need to build cycle paths, for years. Today we are in the climate wall, we have to move quickly. But will the 100 million provided for in the mandate be sufficient? When we compare them to the 3 billion of the metro, to the 70 million of the East Junction on the ring road alone, ”questioned a cyclist from Blagnac. “The LOM law on mobility now obliges communities to build a cycle path for each new road development. Or, it is not always the case far from there, in Blagnac for example, ”added another.
The weapon of tactical town planning to create tracks quickly
“We will have to act, and act well, replied Maxime Boyer. We have at our disposal the weapon of tactical town planning, which can enable us to quickly develop temporary tracks, to change direction if that does not work. We have a job to do to also convince those who don’t ride a bike. There are many higher categories, but few people in the priority neighborhoods. The budget of 100 million euros, we could spend it on the mandate. There are administrative authorizations to be obtained, land acquisitions sometimes to be made. We will not cover the entire Express Bike Network, but we are counting on you to make as much progress as possible. »
Residents and cyclists took part in cartographic workshops, to get into the “detail” of the routes. The next meetings for the development of the REV are scheduled for December 1 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Castélia cinema in Castelginest, and on Wednesday December 7 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Osète – Espace Duranti room in Toulouse.