“I don’t find it transcendent.” Still under construction, the pedestrian development of downtown Limoges arouses impatience and disappointment

With twenty-three new brick planters, the pedestrianization project on rue Jean Jaurès in Limoges, launched more than a year ago, is taking a new step, that of its greening. For traders, it is high time for the project to be completed.

“From the moment they put up barriers, which is normal to secure the site, we achieved approximately between minus 50 and minus 80%. The drop is truly enormous.”

“There are improvements being made, we can’t wait until it’s really finished so that customers can reclaim this street. That it makes you want to walk down this street again, that’s all we ask for today!”

Sébastien Goursaud and Laurent Communeau, both traders on rue Jean Jaurès, are of the same opinion: after more than a year of work, it is high time for the pedestrianization project to be completed.

In an already difficult economic context, the duration of the work is carefully monitored. Businesses mobilized reduced delays by using partly prefabricated structures.

“We are in the city center of Limoges, it is a flagship construction site that everyone is monitoring, that everyone is watching. So, we had a very, very big quality constraint. The planning was very rigorous with very demanding quality”, explains Robin Jude, site operations manager.

But the mayor of Limoges assures us: “LIt will all be done at the beginning of next year, but this summer, it will benefit from paving stones, grassy paving stones and planters.“

The pedestrians encountered on June 27 in the street did not seem convinced by these arrangements intended for them: “I find this project to be a green initiative. But not necessarily adapted to the demographics of Limoges, given that we have a lot of elderly people. It doesn’t provide the possibility of parking near the shops, so I don’t think it’s a really successful initiative. “, comments a young woman.

“For the moment, I don’t find it transcendent, the only pleasant thing is that there are no more cars“, adds another passerby.

The final planting of trees and shrubs will only take place in November or December, during the season when the sap goes down, to encourage rooting and future growth.

(Story with Sébastien Laporte)