Should we ban roads from cars?

Developments are slowly increasing on the roads of France to make cyclists safer from hurried and often dangerous motorists.

The death of Paul Varry, an activist cyclist run over in mid-October in Paris by an SUV driver, has reignited the debate on the place to be given to bicycles in and outside cities.

With the explosion of the practice, 226 cyclists died on the roads of France in 2023, mainly in rural or peri-urban areas.

Paul's shadow hung over the 28th Bicycles and Territories meetings, which brought together pioneer municipalities, departments and regions from Wednesday to Friday November 8 in Vannes (Morbihan).

If tracks have multiplied during the Covid pandemic, only 3.9% of the gigantic French road network is suitable for bicycles, according to the European Federation of Cyclists, compared to 26.9% in bicycle paradise, the Netherlands, 20 % in Belgium, or 6.3% in Hungary.

In cities, these developments generally aim to install cycle paths and eliminate through traffic (by allowing local residents to pass).

Not secure enough

Outside of towns, the ideal would be to have cycle paths away from the road but It’s very expensive and takes a long time to set up. described Fanny Bellanger, from the Federation of Bicycle Users, during a workshop in Vannes.

The road facilities are not satisfactory either because they are not safe enough, with cars brushing against cyclists, she emphasizes: it is therefore a question of thinking carefully about them in advance. The right criterion for judging the usefulness of an arrangement is: would I let a ten year old child make this journey alone? specifies Fanny Bellanger.

The Manche department is currently testing the transformation of two ends of little-used departmental roads into roads reserved for soft mobility. A rather effective and economical solution (with panels and paint, for 1500 euros per km), according to initial feedback.

There was a certain reluctance among mayors said Ludovic Leduc, head of project management in Manche. Like: I'm not going to be able to get through there, I'm going to waste two minutes taking the kids to school . Or: Will the trash and help come? […] And to add: It must be taken into account and […] put an end to fake news .

It is always a matter of seeking the compromise underlined Thomas Jouannot of Cerema, a public organization which gives the codes of these developments to communities.

A generation of elected officials who do not know the bike

Between Cugand and La Bernardière, in Vendée, the community of municipalities has instead chosen to cut a dangerous departmental road in two, with speed peaks of 120 km/h on weekends. A ledge now reserves one lane for cyclists and another for cars, regulated by a new traffic light.

It was complicated at the start but today it is accepted and the track is used for commuting during the week, and for leisure on the weekend, says Jocelyn Guibert, the sector's engineering director.

In Sarrebourg, in Moselle, in the east of France, on the other hand, everything is still to be done and cyclists remain rare: the first section of the crossing of the city could be completed in 2025, after four years of studies and blockages at the town hall, explains Hyacinthe Hopfner, from the community of communes. We have a generation of elected officials who don't know the bike he regrets.

68% of French people in favor of arrangements in favor of cycling

The French people surveyed are generally in favor (at 68%) of strengthening public investments in favor of cycling, according to an online survey carried out in September among 2,826 people by the Cluster 17 institute and for the bicycle rental company. Pony bikes.

But opinions diverge between the youngest and most educated (favorable) and artisans, traders and workers (rather unfavorable).

The government decided on the side of the skeptics by cutting funds from the 2024 budget bike plan which helps finance these developments.

Very upset in Vannes, nearly 90 communities signed an open letter to the Prime Minister on Friday November 8 to condemn this deletion unacceptable of a promising, effective and necessary public policy according to them.