The Prime Minister comes to Agen to cut the tricolor ribbon: the inauguration will have a national impact.
The Camélat bridge will be inaugurated this Saturday, May 4, 2024 by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The news broke Thursday afternoon, and suffice to say that no one expected it. Certainly – for this long-awaited meeting, for necessary road equipment on which a Prime Minister had already leaned low (Jean Castex) – a national personality was hoped by the Agglo d’Agen to make this inauguration an event prestige, widely publicized. The arrival at the last minute of Gabriel Attal is a victory for the project owner, a sign that Agen still has its relays at Matignon…
Objective, the province
It is also a sign that the Prime Minister, who discovers the Camélat file, is on the move. His diary is full of meetings “on the ground”. Beyond the European campaign, the host of Matignon wants to stand up, shake hands, smile in the selfies; in short, meet “real” people to “de-Parisianize” yourself.
Gabriel Attal will arrive on the bridge at 3 p.m. this Saturday, cut the ribbon, and after the speeches (his, then those of Jean Dionis and Sophie Borderie, president of the departmental council), a crowd is planned. The public will be able to come to meet the Prime Minister from the bank of Passage d’Agen, others will prefer to park on the side of the road on the bank (right bank).
The day before his arrival in Agen, the Prime Minister’s program remained partly secret. What will he do after 4 p.m.? Will he return directly to Paris, after meeting the agricultural unions? A simple round trip by plane will provide additional criticism to his opponents, the latter pointing out that the Prime Minister’s carbon spending is excessive…
Umbrella and small wool
Will Gabriel Attal stay on the bridge even later? In any case, others will be there, namely the hundreds of inhabitants of the Agglo who will come to enjoy the activities. “It’s better to take an umbrella and a little wool,” we say near the Agglo d’Agen, “because we’re expecting scattered light rain. “But not enough to cancel the program. » Presentation of classic cars, entertainment for the youngest, music and dancing, market and gourmet meal: “We will adapt with the weather, and if necessary we will dance under the big top…
Open to traffic from Monday
The sound and light show is also maintained, perhaps brought forward to 9 p.m. instead of 9:30 p.m. It is an immersive walk with projection of lights and lasers, followed by fireworks.
This bridge, which has been talked about so much for years, offers a 360-degree view of the river, the hillsides and the Agen countryside. For the first and last time, residents will be able to explore the length and breadth of it, over its 240 meters, before it opens to vehicle traffic on Monday May 6.
photo Nicolas Niedergand
“I will be on deck on Saturday,” enthuses Armandine, a 35-year-old resident of Saint-Hilaire-de-Lusignan. “We will come as a family,” adds this mother of two children, who passed the Camélat construction site every day. “I have worked at Agropole for ten years, and it takes me 45 minutes to reach my office, via the riverbank then the Beauregard bridge. With the Camélat bridge, my journey will become much simpler. Well, I don’t yet know how long it will take me to join the Agropole, but I will be a winner. This bridge will change my life, that’s indisputable. And I have other colleagues who were impatiently waiting for it, people living in Foulayronnes or Colayrac-Saint-Cirq. »
The little family will come on Saturday with the bicycles for a crossing between Guyenne and Gascony: festive and historic!
