By taking a forbidden shortcut, the dump trucks of the City of Paris make local residents fear the worst

“Stop the trucks!” On Rue Marcelle, a thoroughfare spanning the towns of Pantin and Les Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis), local residents have decided to take matters into their own hands. The reason for their anger? heavy goods vehicles of 3.5 tonnes and more are crossing their street at high speed, they say. And this while driving in the adjoining roads (Rue Eugène Decros and Rue du Bois) has been prohibited by stopped. “There is a strong geological risk,” warns a resident. This is the land of old quarries, the ground is extremely fragile. »

Trucks stopped by local residents

Grouped in collectiveseveral dozen people from Lilas and Pantin have notably carried out a poster campaign. They have also launched a petition which had a hundred signatures after only 48 hours online. “With the speed, we feel the vibrations,” warns a local resident.

Some of them therefore decided to to block. “We stop them to explain to them that the street is prohibited. Most of the time, they are simply not aware,” he adds.

Residential roads congested by heavy goods vehicles

“When I visited, the neighbors told me that it was a very quiet area.” Fabien Dubin became the owner in the summer of 2022, rue Marcelle. He moved there with his family in March 2023 and, during the first months, life was good. “My children played football in the summer, this is where I taught them to ride a bike,” he recalls.

But in the space of six months, the situation has changed a lot. “Trucks and in particular the dumpsters of the City of Paris, which leave from the Romainville sorting center, do not take the defined route. Instead of going via the N3 to reach the ring road, they take a shortcut with the RD35ter. Since September, I have had to be careful when crossing with my daughter,” he regrets.

The City of Paris rejects all responsibility

To get things moving, the collective alerted the towns of Pantin and Lilas. And, on May 2, 2024, the mayors Bertrand Kern et Lionel Benharous addressed a joint letter to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, thatParis news was able to consult.

“We are requesting the assistance of your services in order to prevent the large flow of dump trucks from using the residential roads of Pantin and Lilas and in particular, as has been the case for several weeks, rue Marcelle. These numerous passages constitute a nuisance for the inhabitants of these neighborhoods and it seems important to us to raise more awareness among the drivers and service providers involved so that they circulate their vehicles only on more structural roads provided for this purpose,” they wrote, among other things.

A letter that apparently remained unanswered. “We simply want the implementation of the decrees, an extension of the ban on rue Marcelle and the respect speed limitsdeplores Fabien Dubin. Some go at nearly 60 km/h instead of 30, a neighbor has noticed cracks since September,” he adds.

Contacted by Paris newsthe City rejects all responsibility. “The dump trucks have been instructed to take the former RN3 (avenue Jean Lolive in Pantin), and therefore not to take rue Marcelle which is the subject of this petition, specifies a spokesperson for the office of Antoine Guillou, deputy in charge of cleanliness. This instruction was indeed given to the City of Paris drivers and recalled in June 2024. It will also be reminded to service providers of the City of Paris. »

While waiting for real change, Les Lilas and Pantin are doing what they can. “For a few days now, we have seen municipal police officers from Les Lilas stopping trucks,” notes Fabien Dubin.

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