« I’m at the end of my rope, it’s a disaster! Since the town hall installed a series of stop signs in the street, I have lost 25% of my turnover! A whole section of the passing customers, whom I need, prefer not to go through rue de Fétilly anymore! » And Florence Martin Duloz, who has operated the multi-service tobacco press Le Petit Fétilly, since October 2020, to be more explicit: “my regular tobacco orders have fallen from 17,000 euros to 10,000 euros. I divided those concerning groceries by four. In short, I could get a salary of 1,600 euros per month, for 240 hours of work, I am less than 1,000…”
The 58-year-old tobacconist’s problems began on Friday September 13, which “was not a lucky day for me! » That day, the town hall of La Rochelle put seven stop signs into service in one direction and seven in the other, avenue de Fétilly, the narrow artery which connects the swimming pool roundabout to Lagord. In accordance with the wishes of residents, expressed at a public meeting in September, as well as the Fétilly neighborhood committee. Objective: reduce the speed on this street to 30 km/h where priority on the right, at many intersections, was not sufficiently respected.
Last trade
“Objective achieved”, notes today Christophe Bertaud, the deputy mayor in charge of the central sector. “Residents asked us to slow down traffic and make pedestrian and bicycle travel safer. The choice to put stops was widely approved. » The tobacconist herself voted for it at the mid-September meeting. Without imagining negative consequences on what constitutes the last local business on the street.
Christophe Bertaud, for his part, even thought it possible that vehicles would stop more easily at the tobacconist. But it seems that the rapid succession of stop signs, which require people to come to a sudden stop and force jerky driving, has rather led to avoidance strategies.
Florence Martin Duloz in her business which sells not only newspapers and tobacco, but also batteries, photocopies, groceries, scratch games, etc.
Alain Babaud
“It’s an experiment that we’re carrying out with the residents of the neighborhood. So we’ll see what they say about it.”
Has the number of vehicles really decreased, generating a drop in passing customers? Christophe Bertaud says he “understands the distress of the trader”, but asks to quantify the evolution of traffic. He thus announces counts, starting in January. The results will be presented and discussed at a meeting with local residents, “at the end of February-beginning of March”.
With possible modifications? “It’s an experiment co-constructed with the residents that we’re carrying out, so we’ll see what they say about it. From my point of view, there are two or three superfluous panels. » See you, then, in two months? “I have loans to repay, charges to pay every month,” notes Florence Martin Duloz, “how do I do it? I don’t think I can hold on until then…” Another cause for concern: it will soon no longer be possible, when going up rue de Fétilly, to turn left to take rue des Gonthières. With a risk, for Le Petit Fétilly, that this will further reduce the passing clientele.
