On the left bank in Rouen, this “parking lot” will be removed to become a garden square
By Mathieu Normand
Published on
After months of reflection and consultation with local residents, works of transformation of Place Gadeau-de-Kerville will start to Rouen (Seine-Maritime) in this month of January 2023. This place located a stone’s throw from the tramway and the Saint-Sever shopping center on the left bank will totally change its face.
Today it serves as a large car park in the middle of blocks of buildings welcoming residents, employment centers, schools and businesses. Tomorrow the parking spaces will be removed to be supported by a garden square with pedestrian traffic, as recalled by the Metropolis and the City during a last public meeting before the start of the works, Thursday January 5, 2023, in the presence of Vice-President Abdelkrim Marchani and Deputy Frédéric Marchand, in responsible for the left bank.
Different uses
As with all recent projects of this type in Rouen, the key word here again is renaturation. “We are going to find many different plant entities with 17 trees, including seven fruit trees“, indicates Antoine Crépin, landscape architect at the City of Rouen, who underlines the desire to “create a much more balanced ecosystem”.
Six existing trees will be replaced. “All the trees have been examined: six are sick and have a fungus, explains Frédéric Marchand. We will have to remove them. Others will be planted instead. The spaces, lighting and paths will also be completely modified to improve accessibility and safety.
The square should also change its use, becoming a real place of relaxation and life and more simply a passage area. A space to land with street furniture and another including a little balancing act will emerge during the development work. “The idea is, with all of our projects, to create a route on the entire left bank, so that those who want to walk can have places to do small activities and rediscover their city”, underlines Frédéric Marching.
A long-awaited project
Major work is planned from January to June 2023, the scheduled months of delivery, in order to complete this requalification. The development phase will be preceded by an earthworks phase lasting two to three months, as well as the refurbishment of the waterproofing of a tunnel passing under the square and joining the car parks of the various buildings.
The cost of the requalification works of the square amount to 900,000 euros excluding tax, 80% subsidized by the European Regional Development Fund. The bill rises to 1,200,000 euros by adding the waterproofing work on the tunnel.
“The ambition that we have with this type of development is to help the attractiveness of this business district, recalled the vice-president in charge of the economy at the Métropole Abdelkrim Marchani. Being from the left bank, I am very happy to see that it will become a lively and friendly district. It is a great collective success. »
The local residents present at the public meeting also seem to welcome this project, both for its promises for their living environment and for that of reduce insecurity, in this place used in particular as a deal point.
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