It is an “octopus” which will extend its tentacles in Toulouse and throughout the city.

the Express Bike Network (REV) of the Pink City has been on everyone’s lips for more than ten years, but those who (really) dream of it have seen, so far, more saliva flow than cycle sections completed.

Pour as much, Jean-Luc Moudenc, Mayor of Toulouse, promised it at the start of the political school year in September“the realization of the REV”, in the Pink City, is looming.

The objective remains: to change the travel habits of the inhabitants of the Toulouse agglomeration by encouraging them to swap the car for the bicycle, via finally adapted and secure infrastructures…

One REV, 14 lines, 370 kilometers

As a reminder, this vast project consists of developing 14 lines dedicated to cyclists continuously through 370 km of new cycle pathsincluding 240 km on the territory of the Metropolis and 100 km on the territory managed by the departmental council.

After years of scarcity, cyclists could therefore finally benefit from facilities worthy of the name, with cycling continuity in the greater Toulouse conurbation.

An octopus-shaped network

On the plans are drawn two circular lines, one around the extended city center, the other around Toulouse and 12 radial lines “serving the main urban centres, the major economic areas, public facilities of metropolitan interest, the multimodal hubs of the structuring TC network”, explain the project leaders.

54 municipalities would be served for an investment amount of around 250 million euros, for all the communities involved in this program.

The consultation has started

From REV to reality, there is still a gap. Toulouse is rather behind in terms of infrastructure and for the octopus to materialize, there remains “60% of facilities to be created”, according to the figures provided as part of the consultation which began in November 2022.

65% of the REV network to be built in Toulouse Métropole

And building this network will not be easy. The Departmental Council on one side and Toulouse Métropole, on the other, have to come up against numerous constraints.

“It’s a partnership work with the Department that is done at Tisséo level. We see each other regularly. The idea is to be connected on the tracks and that we move forward together on a common charter. On the side of the Metropolis, there is still 65% of the network to be built and what is clear is that with the constraints which are ours in urban areas, we are not going to go at the same speed as if it was necessary to build an infrastructure in the middle of a field”, points out Maxime Boyer, the elected official who coordinates the REV project in the territory of Toulouse Métropole.

The elected representative therefore wants to be cautious about the line construction schedule, even if he notes, for the next few months, certain concretizations.

“We aim to make half of this network available to fellow citizens by the end of the mandate”, nevertheless explained the same Maxime Boyer, to Toulouse newsin October 2021.

Achievements in 2023

” The REV 8 advances in Toulouse with, in 2023, advances on avenue Etienne Billière with the validation of tracks in service roads with removal of parking spaces. Still to the west, studies are produced on the possible routes with the inherent constraints. Still on REV 8, but this time to the northeast, we have launched studies on avenue du Faubourg-Bonnefoy, ”explains the elected official.

To the southeast, the REV 14 is also making progress with a first development, along the Saint-Martory canal, which will be completed at the end of 2022 and before a new phase of work, route de Seysses, in May-June 2023.

Tactical arrangements

“A lot of work is also underway on the Toulouse-Saint-Orens axis with the construction of REV 11 as part of the development of metropolitan route 2. acquisition of land and development of networks”, notes Maxime Boyer.

In recent months, a few tactical development operations have taken place along the Canal du Midi. They foreshadow what the REV 2 will be from Ayguesvives, to the south-east of the agglomeration, to Saint-Jory, north of Toulouse.

7 REV lines outside Toulouse Métropole

Beyond the territory of Toulouse Métropole, it is the departmental council which is responsible for continuing the development of the REV in the first and second ring of the Toulouse conurbation.

The community has undertaken to build 7 lines outside of Toulouse. “These 7 portions of REV will be delivered simultaneously. We are going to submit the files to the prefecture at the start of 2023. The works will be launched in 2024 for commissioning in 2025”, announces to Toulouse news, Julien Klotz, departmental adviser, responsible for steering the project.

51 km of tracks by 2025

By 2025, 51 kilometers of secure tracks for an investment of 53 million euros. They will make home-work travel possible (up to 20 km), depending on the peri-urban areas of the south-east and west to the gates of the Toulouse metropolis. And already, other REVs must be studied to bring the network to 100 kilometers.

“These lines will be dedicated bicycle lanes, separated from the road and separated from pedestrian traffic. For example, to build the REV 8 between Saint-Lys and Fonsorbes, we are going to create a long stretch of track along the departmental road, ”explains the departmental elected official.

The 7 departmental REV lines completed before 2025 will go to Saint-Lys, Seysses, Muret, Pins-Justaret, Castanet, Escalquens, etc.

“REV must mark real progress”

For the 2 Pieds 2 Roues association, which brings together cyclists and pedestrians in Toulouse, “this network must allow a modal relationship to cycling. It is aimed at all audiences, current “cyclists” but also future cyclists put off by the weaknesses of the current network”. It must mark real progress and a break in terms of cycling facilities in the Toulouse conurbation in terms of safety, legibility, comfort, continuity”.

As part of the consultation currently being carried out, the association has brought a series of recommendations.

The consultation on the Toulouse REV project will end on December 21, 2022. The elements are to be found on the following link.

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