“When we build a cycle lane – €400,000 to €500,000 depending on the elected official – we redo a new road,” André Coënt replies. Three meters wide, roads for cycling, protection, etc. If you don't make a proper cycle lane along a main road, people won't use it because they're not safe. We cannot do DIY, the department will not compromise on that. And if we don't have all the criteria planned for a cycle path, we sometimes have to buy land, this is the case between Mabiliès and Lannion or between Lannion and Pleumeur-Bodou.
At the risk of postponing any development indefinitely? “It could take several years,” admits the man who is also mayor of Plouzélambre. “But we don’t give up.” From Lannion to Pleumeur-Bodou, the department will be the project manager, even if it means purchasing land if necessary. There could be “disputes, expropriations (…) If we do DIY, any cyclist could turn against the president of the department” in the event of an accident. The elected official even believes that the framework emanating from Paris via the general transport directorate “will be much more restrictive than ours”.
