In order to get motorists to calm down and ensure the safety of local residents, two intelligent lights are being installed on Avenue de l’Ermitage in Espaly-Saint-Marcel.
It is probably one of the most accident-prone entrances to the city: Avenue de l’Ermitage, straddling the town of Puy-en-Velay and Espaly-Saint-Marcel, is sadly known for these numerous accidents and speeding. With its steep slope, its tight bends and a rather wide roadway, this portion has long represented a real danger both for motorists and for local residents who have to use this road every day to come and go in the Ponote city.The light in the direction of descent will soon be installed. Photo CC
The lights will stay red if you are not driving at the correct speed
“People drive at full speed here without paying attention to the pedestrians who cross, especially young people, to take the bus,” denounces a local resident. “In front of the tobacco shop, it is perilous to leave the parking spaces, not to mention crossing and I’m not even talking about evenings. The fatal accident here has apparently not calmed anyone down,” notes this exasperated resident, alluding to the terrible tragedy which cost the lives of two young people almost ten years ago.Easy access for pedestrians. Photo C.Coffy
After numerous complaints from local residents and in particular those who have to enter the main avenue via crossing streets, the municipality of Espaly-Saint-Marcel has just initiated development work to try to reduce the speed on this section located just below the new turret radar, a device installed since February which now allows motorists to be flashed in both directions.
In total, no less than four intelligent traffic lights will soon be active by the end of October: two located on avenue de l’ermitage in both directions of traffic and two others perpendicular to the avenue on the chemins de la Citadelle and des Arcis which serve many residences.
“This is an area where there are a lot of vehicle exits and we really want to do everything to get motorists to relax in this sector. We organized several neighborhood meetings and it emerged that traffic on this road represented a very big problem for local residents as well as parking problems on the sidewalks along the avenue.”
Christiane Mosnier (mayor of Espaly-Saint-Marcel)
After requesting the installation of a new generation radar capable of flashing in both directions on this same Ermitage road, the municipality therefore went the second by launching this installation of intelligent lights. Their operation is as follows: thanks to the different sensors, the light is able to detect the speed of vehicles approaching the intersection. If the driver obeys the traffic rules by driving at the correct speed, the light will remain green. On the other hand, if the driver arrives too quickly, he turns red for a certain time.At Chemin des Arcis which leads to the avenue.
“We should take back the whole avenue”
“On the way down, you quickly pick up speed on this road once you have passed the radar,” explains Christiane Mosnier. And we must not forget bicycles and pedestrians as well, who are becoming more and more numerous. Some cyclists sometimes get really scared… We are trying to fix the situation with these arrangements but in the long term, we will have to take up this whole avenue and have a real thought so that all users have their place. Especially with this size of roadway which opens up a lot of possibilities. It’s an entrance to the city with a magnificent view and I think that the different communities should get around the table to promote that. »
Christophe Coffy
