The Faubourgs d’Avignon plan still does not convince a year after its commissioning
In Avignon, the plan of the suburbs has been in force for a year. In a sector located between the ramparts and the ring road, between Champfleury and avenue Pierre Sémard, it was intended to reduce car traffic and pollution by altering circulation. Many streets became one-way, which caused heavy traffic jams when the plan was launched.
A year later, almost everyone, opponents and defenders of the plan, observe that, in fact, traffic has generally decreased. The deputy to the peaceful and breathable city, Fabrice Martinez-Tocabens, evokes 130,000 vehicles which, every day, entered or left the suburbs. Today, this figure has fallen by 60%, dropping to 50,000 or 60,000 daily vehicles. At the same time, according to the streets and according to the town hall, bicycle use jumped 50%.
Lots of wasted time for home nurses
For their part, liberal nurses have seen their working conditions are deteriorating, like Sylviane Sevilla, who has worked for twenty years between the Monclar and Saint-Ruf districts. Every day, she goes to see about thirty patients. In three months, Sylviane will retire. A spoiled end of career, she says, by the suburban plan and the extra 15 km she spends every day in her car.
“We do tricks and eights, she says. We go to a place, we redo a figure eight. We keep driving and looking for places. I can not stand it anymore”. Sylviane recognizes that traffic has eased. But the journeys have become puzzles with all the new forbidden directions. “We already walk 5 km a day, she continues. We climb 30 floors a day, we can’t spend our time on foot. So we do as we can, that’s more fuel and less time spent with patients.”
For her colleagues who will not retire immediately, Sylviane Sevilla suggests to the town hall of Avignon a marginal modification of the suburbs plan : that medical personnel can use the lanes reserved for buses or bicycles, in the same way as ambulances.
Fewer cars and more calm for some residents
Within the association of the four boulevards (boulevards Jules Ferry, Monod, Sixte-Isnard and 1e DB), local residents are delighted with this faubourg plan. Traffic had greatly increased after the tram works. But since last January, “we have found much quieter streets, we can once again enjoy our gardens without the horn concerts, we can leave our homes safely”, rejoices Valérie Villette, the president of the association.
Avenue de la Trillade also, there are fewer cars. Moreover, there are no more estimates Valérie Defert, the pharmacist of the sector. “It has become a desert, a no man’s land”. The trader is preparing to file for bankruptcy, after having lost half of her turnover. She used to have 150 customers a day, now she only has 30. “I am mentally and physically tired”she continues, supported by her clients and the dozens of little notes left in a guestbook for the occasion.
France Bleu Vaucluse gives you the floor this Friday morning. What consequences, positive or negative, has a plan had on your daily life? Did you have to change your habits? You can call 04.90.14.04.04 from 8 a.m.