The experiment consisting in taking two lanes of traffic from cars on the quays between the stone bridge and the Quinconces, to give them to cyclists, had been launched on the occasion of the Wine Festival from June 22 to 25, and was to continue all summer. But the town hall announced this Thursday “the lifting of the temporary traffic device on the quays”. Explanations.
This “experiment” had been launched first of all for practical reasons: some 12,000 bicycles circulate on the quays every day, and with the installations of the Wine Festival, it would have been very difficult for them to continue to circulate normally in the middle pedestrians. The town hall had therefore decided to take two traffic lanes for cars to offer them to cyclists. And wanted to take the opportunity to test this device over the longer term, namely all or part of the summer.
“Reduction of the number of vehicles by 25% to 44% during peak hours”
Very quickly, the situation became untenable on the quays, since it generated a bottleneck for cars, “generator of conflicts of use between cyclists and pedestrians at the level of the water mirror” agrees the municipality. Who therefore decided on a premature return to normal. “At the end of the interventions on the road network, no later than Thursday July 13, cyclists must use the cycle path bordering the quays and motorized vehicles will once again be able to use the four traffic lanes of the main road” announces her this Thursday.
Is it a backpedal? Not at all, assumes the mayor Pierre Hurmic (EELV), who welcomes in a press release that “the device has fulfilled its priority objective, in particular by securing cyclists and pedestrians during the Wine Festival”, and by allowing several lessons to be learned. . For example, “the data collected reveals a reduction over the days in the number of vehicles from 25% to 44% during peak hours on the central portion of the platforms”, while “traffic has also been reduced by 35% compared to at the same period in 2022 between the Chaban-Delmas bridge and the Simone Veil bridge”. Many motorists have indeed found themselves forced to take other routes.
Thus, “if improvements will be necessary during the next editions, in particular to inform all users more upstream and to improve signage and the path for cyclists”, this solution “could be renewed next year during the Wine Festival or during large-scale festivities occupying the banks of the Garonne in the same way”.