This is what the future Saint-Sever Nouvelle Gare district in Rouen will look like

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In full transformation. In Rouen (Seine-Maritime), the Saint-Sever district continues its metamorphosis with the arrival of the new station on the left bank in sight.

Many consultation phases were launched by the City to allow residents to imagine together the future of this district and to trace its new contours. The last phase of citizen debates will take place in January 2025.

After January, the next deadline will be March/April according to the forecast schedule, with the presentation of the validated project and the results of the consultation.

A long list of projects, in progress or completed

It has been several years since the Saint-Sever district began its metamorphosis. Caught in the works, this sector that the vice-president of the Metropolis in charge of the economy and attractiveness Abdelkrim Marchani describes “as the gateway to the left bank” is in full transformation.

We have a collective challenge, in terms of quality of life and security, to succeed with this transformation!

Work on the Saint-Sever garden, Places Henri Gadeau-de-Kerville and Place Carnot, redevelopment of Rue Saint-Sever, between Pont Boieldieu and Cours Clemenceau and between Cours Clemenceau and Place des Emmurées, construction of the line T5… To cite just these examples, the projects – between those completed and those continuing – are legion.

Recently, 1.3 million euros was invested by the Métropole de Rouen for the redevelopment of the southern part of Cours Clemenceau, with final delivery scheduled for the end of 2025.

Urban developments, but not only

“We want to give the neighborhood a dynamic of life and a quality of life that meets what it deserves,” says Abdelkrim Marchani, himself from this neighborhood.

This construction also involves things other than urban development, like the multiple pre-emptions carried out by the City to “hunt” for certain omnipresent businesses and not very diversified.

“We want to break the spiral of hairdressers/barbers and beauty salons on Rue Lafayette,” noted in June 2024 Sileymane Sow, deputy mayor of Rouen in charge of commerce, the economy, and attractiveness.

Abdelkrim Marchani hopes to see the emergence of a new cultural offering within the neighborhood and imagines the establishment of cultural associations to “bring Saint-Sever to life”.

And the new station, then?

The arrival of the New Saint-Sever Station obviously plays an essential part in the image of the future district and is part of this overall renovation and redevelopment project.

The arrival of the station will allow the district to strengthen its offer of housing, facilities, services and shops. It will give it a central role within the city and the Rouen metropolis, and redistribute the balance between the right bank and the left bank.

But this project faces difficulties. Indeed, the railway project remains intrinsically linked to that of the LNPN, and the latter is struggling to get started due to lack of consensus, despite the high expectations of the Seinomarins.

As proof, the project was recently contested on the side of the neighboring region, Île-de-France. Elected officials from the Ile-de-France region then took the opportunity to take up the subject: in September 2024, the Region led by Valérie Pécresse (former Les Républicains candidate in the presidential election) adopted a motion positioning itself against the LNPN.

It is for this reason in particular that the station was “dissociated” from the redevelopment of the Saint-Sever district. Abdelkrim Marchani means by this that “we must not wait for the station, but prepare for our arrival”.

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