VIDEO. Toulouse from the sky (11/20): from Saint-Michel to Île du Ramier
Through Pascal PALLAS
Published on
With the neighborhood Montaudran, it is undoubtedly the corner of Toulouse that has changed the most in recent years. The 5.3 district of Toulouse bringing together Saint Michelthe Busca, St. Agnes and theRamier Island is in the process of being requalified. And that’s good !
So much the better because we are going to say it frankly: this is the type of suburb that has remained in its own juice for too long, caught up in the urban logic of another time. In the 1970s, for example, we leaned against the popular district of the prison, the large complexes ofEmpalot. At the same time, nothing was being done to preserve Île de Ramier in its prime quality as the city’s green lung…
Discover the 5-3 district of Toulouse thanks to the drone of the Conti studio for Actu Toulouse:
Saint-Michel, a changing working-class district
Everything is promised to change! And the best illustration of this change desired by the municipality of Toulouse will soon be displayed in the Saint-Michel district.
For a long time, Saint-Michel, which owes its name to an eponymous church destroyed during the Revolution, was the southern gateway to Toulouse, since it adjoined the famous Narbonne Gate, one of the main crossing points of the old city walls. Under the Second Empire, in 1855 to be exact, Saint-Michel was chosen to build the city’s new prison.
The façade, worthy of that of a fortified castle, therefore marks the urban landscape. And the building’s function clearly downgrades this district, which has had a bad image for a long time.
The prison closed in 2003 and after twenty years of study and palaver on the future of the building, its reconversion is not yet fully decided and under consideration.
In the meantime, it is the Grande Rue Saint-Michel which will experience lifting a damn. The main artery will see its road allowance reduced to accommodate an ambitious project.
“The revegetation effort will be very marked here with plantations on each side of the street and the establishment of a branch of the Réseau Express Vélo (REV), with a very qualitative infrastructure allowing a very clear separation between cyclists and pedestrians contrary to what has been done on rue d’Alsace-Lorraine where the mixture of the two uses has resulted in conflicts”.
From the tunes of Central Park on Ramier Island
The Ile du Ramier will also experience a strong revaluation, according to a plan concocted by the municipality of Toulouse and particularly the former elected Marie-Hélène Mayeux-Bouchard.
The demolition of the old exhibition center started a few months ago will allow the creation of an esplanade the size of the Place du Capitole this year. A year 2023 which will make it possible to really accelerate the reconversion project of the island and a green lung totally turned towards sports, cultural and ecological practices.
Two footbridges exclusively dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists will improve the accessibility of a site that around fifty projects will gradually concern over the next few years. On the menu: the creation of a botanical garden, a sports center…
The island will finally live a peaceful and natural life after having long had an industrial vocation and this, since the 17th century and the construction of a first powder mill.
Toulouse Stadium
With its 33,150 approved seats, the Toulouse Stadium is the largest sports arena in the Pink City. It hosts the matches of the Toulouse Football Club (TFC) and some national and European posters of the Toulouse Stadium. It is also sometimes chosen to host matches of the XV of France.
Its construction was decided on the island of Ramier by the mayor Etienne Billières, anxious to give a large stadium to the city for the football World Cup of 1938. But the construction site started in 1937 was not completed in time. .. Completed in 1949, the stadium takes the nickname of “Little Wembley”, its architecture recalling that of the legendary London stadium.
It was renovated in 1997, at the dawn of the 1998 Football World Cup and, during this competition, hosted David Beckham’s England. Damaged by the AZF explosion in 2001, six months of work were needed to return it to sport.
It will host several Rugby World Cup matches in September 2023.
Empalot is also changing!
645 homes demolished and 1,900 homes built by 2030. In Toulouse, the cranes are out at Empalot, which is experiencing major upheaval. Characteristic of large housing estates built in the 1960s and 1970s, the district had aged very badly.
“These reconstructions must make people from Toulouse or outside Toulouse want to come here. But we don’t just demolish, far from it! There are also a lot of rehabilitations like that of the Garonne residence, from 2023, or even the Herons residence ”, recently specified the elected Gaëtan Coignard at Actu Toulouse. “We wanted to ensure that not only was there a diversification of housing, of course, but also a diversification of uses to improve the living environment,” continues Gaëtan Cognard.
School groups have been rehabilitated. The installation of health professionals is also planned in 2024 in the district. The creation of a 600-meter green corridor between boulevard des Récollets and rue Mombiola is scheduled for 2027. This will complete the pedestrian walkway along the same street.
Another structuring project in the sector: the construction of the Empalot footbridge which will link the district to the island of Ramier. This new footbridge will cross the Garonne over a length of 145 meters and a width of 5 meters.
Le Busca, one of the most beautiful areas of Toulouse
All this bustle will not alter the peaceful atmosphere of the neighboring district of Busca, set between the Canal du Midi and the Grande Rue Saint-Michel. It also confronts the magnificent Jardin des Plantes.
Emblematic district of the Pink City, gathering for decades the tranquility of a population a little more affluent than elsewhere, it is also full of beautiful houses and mansions. A short stroll near the Canal du Midi, around the rue du Japon will give you the best impression!
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