Cycling works in Haute-Garonne: from REV to nightmare, fed up for motorists

Construction site on the road from Saint-Simon to Toulouse, with one less traffic lane at the Ambroise-Paré clinic and at the Cépière roundabout, construction site on the road to Revel with traffic diversions, from Saint-Simon to Toulouse, Orens where motorists get lost, Léguevin, Castanet announced for several months…

And above all this, the removal of a traffic lane on Boulevard des Minimes, to double the greenway of the Canal du Midi. And increased traffic jams for access to Matabiau station…

“The problem is that it adds up to all the work over the past 2 years,” notes an angry motorist… We can no longer leave Saint-Orens and go to the ring road in less than 20 minutes. Yes, fed up! »

Exasperated motorists

With the metro work, which for example forces residents of Avenue Saint-Exupéry to make a detour because of the future Ormeau station, the overflow is expressed. Between the summer of 2024 and mid-December, the experimental Ponts-Jumeaux cycle path exceeded many motorists. Before being removed by the Toulouse town hall, because few bicycles used it.

In Saint-Orens, work has started on an important axis in the metropolitan south-east. The idea is to set up the express bicycle network and allow the passage of the brand new Linéo 7. On the sections under construction, the Revel road is made one way, from Toulouse towards the outside, and diversions are proposed to motorists.

A “not very relevant” investment

In Castanet, the project involves the creation of a cycle path, the renovation of sidewalks and the roadway as well as the installation of security devices for crossings. The project, estimated at 600,000 euros, divides residents. Some regret an investment that they consider irrelevant, in an area where cyclists are rare.

“The inconvenience caused to local residents and motorists is obviously regrettable, but our goal is obviously not to hinder, to prevent. The city must adapt, all-car driving can no longer be the rule in the metropolis. The development of cycle paths is our responsibility, to encourage active modes of travel,” assures Maxime Boyer, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole.

26 million euros for cycle paths in 2024 in the Metropolis

The 2 Pieds 2 Roues association, in the other direction, regrets a Cycling plan which is progressing “too slowly”, and “scattered” developments, a “pilotless” project.

Also read:
New interchange on the Toulouse ring road: standoff between supporters and opponents

To which the Toulouse elected official responds that for the year 2024, Toulouse Métropole has invested 26 million euros, a record over the last twenty or thirty years. The Department also took its part, with 28 million over 2024-2025 for the Express Vélo Network. In an urban area which gains 15,000 inhabitants each year (6,000 for Toulouse), the development of non-car transport is a crucial issue.