The Swiss people vote on November 24 on a highway widening project. Six sections are concerned, including one in French-speaking Switzerland of 19 kilometers between Le Vengeron and Nyon, which will cost around one billion francs. For now, polls show some popular indecision.
The whole question debated in the campaign is whether the new infrastructures will be quickly overwhelmed by the traffic induced. Concerning the section between Le Vengeron and Nyon, figures from the Federal Roads Office (Ofrou) show that widening to six lanes would ultimately increase traffic from 90,000 to 130,000 cars per day.
However, the newspaper Le Temps points out that these traffic projections date back to 2015. There are forecasts dating from 2023 that the daily was able to conveniently get its hands on, while their publication was planned for 2026… According to these new figures. During the pandemic period, traffic fell to 70,000 passages per day. Since then, it has not regained the intensity of before, but stands at 83,200 passages, and not at 90,000.
An Ofrou expert explains: “What we notice is that in all situations, the increase expected after the commissioning of the third track is much less than what was announced in 2015. Our updated forecasts mention an increase of 23% in traffic and not 70%. With these forecasts, the passages between Nyon and Vengeron “would stabilize between 102,000 and 103,000 by 2050, and not at 141,000”.
This less significant increase in traffic can be explained by the evolution of teleworking, modal transport, the policy in favor of public transport or even the elimination of parking spaces in cities.
On the side of the opponents, David Raedler, president of the ATE VD, is initially very upset: “I deplore the fact that Ofrou comes two weeks before the votes with figures different from those which made it possible to make all the feasibility studies, while the publication of the report is expected in 2026.
More generally, he deplores the lightness with which these forecasts are made: “Let us imagine that these figures are worth something, they confirm a fundamental problem. Twenty years from now, no one knows how we will move around. If between 2015 and 2023 there can be such changes, it is proof that we are going to invest 5 billion in a total unknown. It’s astonishing.”
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