Toulouse: associations demand the suspension of the construction of the 3rd metro line
Eight new associations of transport users or the defense of the environment submitted the request for cancellation of the environmental authorization for the 3rd metro line made by Friends of the Earth. The administrative court must study this Monday, December 5 the summary filed by this association.
It is a new attack against the environmental component of the construction site of the 3e metro line: the associations Autate (Association of Public Transport Users of the Toulouse Agglomeration and its Surroundings), 2P2R (2-foot 2-wheelers), TAE (Tournefeuille Avenir Environnement), Alternatiba, Vélorution, Sentinelle 31650, Ax Ramée Green and Action Info 3e ligne requests the cancellation of the environmental authorization granted to the project. The eight signatory associations confirming the referral filed by the Friends of the Earth of Midi-Pyrénées which will be examined by the administrative court of Toulouse this Monday, December 5 and which could lead to a suspension of the construction of the 3e line.
Felled trees and degradation of Tisséo services
“At a time of climate emergency, it is inadmissible to cut down hundreds of century-old trees by compensating for them with shrubs that will take decades to effectively absorb carbon dioxide (…) so than existing surface railroads on the southern half of the planned route,” the associations said in a press release. Associations that highlight a “degradation of services” by Tisséo: late or canceled buses, stops moved because of the preparation work for the 3rd line, fewer stops served by the new Linéo replacing the bus lines (example the L10), more and more breakdowns in the metro and tram, report of new routes created for the Réseau Express Vélo (only 50% of the network completed by 2026), Pedestrian Master Plan hindered by preparatory work for the 3rd line (example: avenue Jean Rieux).
Investigate alternatives to 3e line including the metropolitan RER
The signatory associations invoke a “freeze on the budgets for improving surface transport (buses, cycle paths) for the benefit of the 3e metro line”, qualified by the signatories as a “financial abyss”: “the budget for metro operations jumped from 3 to 3.5 billion, while that of surface operations fell from 328 to 63 million”.
While the establishment of the ZFE (Low Emissions Zone) “has not been accompanied by measures to develop alternatives to the car (RER, bus, bicycle) which are essential, no alternative to the 3e The line has not been studied in depth according to the signatories of this call, evoking the Toulouse RER, Réseau Express Vélo or reinforced bus network (Transports Express Bus) projects, proposed by Autate.
