There is no longer any time for procrastination regarding the state of the Notre-Dame underground car park in Poitiers. A study has just shown that it presents a risk of collapse. As a safety measure, Grand Poitiers, in conjunction with the City, has decided to close it from Thursday.
The news was on almost everyone’s lips this morning around the Notre-Dame market halls in Poitiers. The underground car park which runs under the church square will be closed from Thursday for an indefinite period, “at least three years”, advances Emmanuel Bazile, vice-president of Grand Poitiers in charge of Heritage. The fall of a sheet of plasterboard on a car parked in the parking lot last December was only a warning. The additional study carried out by Grand Poitiers following this incident highlighted very serious defects which endanger the structure. The risk of collapse is real for the part of the car park located under the mall, in other words levels -2 and -3, or 560 spaces. “Our priority is to ensure the safety of everyone”, underlined Sylvie Aubert, vice-president of Mobility, before detailing the emergency measures put in place the day after tomorrow. As level -1 is not impacted, it will remain open to utilities as well as traders, who will also have dedicated spaces in the Jardin-des-Plantes car park. For people with reduced mobility, places will be reserved on that of the law faculty on Saturday morning (access via Malraux). Drop-off points have also been created on rue Monsiegneur-Augouard. As for the 388 subscribers, they received an email telling them the city center car park to which they were transferred (Blossac, Tap, Carmes). Community agents are on site until Thursday to exchange badges and a telephone line has been set up at 05 49 52 35 05 (until June 28 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday). In addition, access to Vitalis buses will be free on Saturday all day ” until further notice “certified Sylvie Aubert and “the 9-seat shuttle which serves rue du Faubourg-du-Pont-Neuf will rotate between the Cité Judiciaire parking lot and Notre-Dame every fifteen minutes. » “The objective is that activity in the city center remains the same and that traders do not lose turnover,” adds Aloïs Gaborit, municipal councilor and vice-president of Urban Planning.
Unforeseen expense
The Notre-Dame car park was built from 1977, in three distinct blocks, which explains why the part under the halls does not present a risk of collapse, unlike the rest of the work for which the study put highlighting reinforcement defects in places. The City, owner of the Halles building, and Grand Poitiers, in charge of the parking lot, initially wish to deal with the most pressing needs. Then the time will come for more lasting solutions. Emmanuel Bazile evokes “an identical rehabilitation or a more qualitative rehabilitation”. But anyway overall. “Today, it is no longer possible to carry out the work in stages”, deplores the elected official, recalling that this solution, when it had been mentioned in the past, had met with reluctance from certain traders. It is in any case too late and, whatever the option chosen, the elected official already estimates the cost of this unforeseen investment at “several tens of millions of euros”.
