A specialist in sustainable mobility, who had already proposed, in collaboration with ecologist Laurent Lanquar-Castiel, the “Vélorution”, a series of proposals to facilitate bicycle use in the Alpes-Maritimes, is back with a new idea, which is already in service in other cities.
The Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, which aims to be a “champion” in many fields and initiatives, might want to consider it.
In any case, Xavier Garcia’s proposal is worth reading…
There are more than 50,000 workers in Monaco. Less than 15% of them live there. Three-quarters come from the Alpes-Maritimes, with only a quarter from the bordering towns of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Cap d’Ail, Beausoleil, and La Turbie, where land pressure and the high cost per square meter increasingly limit housing opportunities.
As a result, each weekday morning, the tunnel connecting the A8 to Cap d’Ail and the village of La Turbie turns into a traffic nightmare. Invariably, during rush hours, the tunnel located after the A8 exit towards Monaco is closed to prevent congestion, and the vehicles of the principality’s employees flood onto La Turbie and secondary roads descending towards the moyenne Corniche, which are not at all suited to this mass traffic.
Despite all its faults, its proverbial delays, and its own congestion, the TER network is a far more satisfactory solution for users living near the coast. However, for many others who live too far from the train stations, taking a car and adopting Winston Churchill’s adage with resignation: “When you’re going through hell, keep going,” becomes a necessity.
The idea of a funicular connecting the highway exit of La Turbie has been regularly mentioned, although no concrete project has yet materialized.
Since it’s inconceivable to establish a direct link between La Turbie and Monaco by disfiguring a landscape of exceptional beauty, the tunnel solution appears to be the only acceptable one. For massive commuter traffic during rush hours, the VAL would offer guarantees of reliability, speed, flexibility, and operational cost-efficiency.
The VAL (light autonomous vehicle or Villeneuve d’Ascq-Lille, named after the first project of this type) is a driverless light metro. Fully automated, it operates underground, in covered trenches, or on viaducts, never intersecting with road traffic. A control room enables the operation of as many trains as needed, depending on peak hours or public events. Its frequency can be less than a minute and can carry up to 30,000 people per hour. Additionally, its reliability would be a dream for all “castaways” of the TER Nice-Ventimiglia. It is indeed close to 100%. There are no accidents because a VAL does not intersect with road traffic and the tracks are protected by automatic glass doors to prevent accidents and suicides.
The most famous is the Orlyval, well known to frequent flyers of the Nice-Paris shuttle, but other French cities (Lille, Toulouse, and Rennes) as well as Chicago in the United States, are equipped with it. For several years, Laurentin Cyril Cousinié has tirelessly advocated for a VAL linking Nice to Cannes.
The initial investment is higher than for a surface tramway, for example, but one of the major advantages of the VAL is its profitability, due to its flexibility and automated operation, which requires fewer staff (30 to 37% of the cost compared to 60% for a tram). “Lost” jobs that could be recovered on highway shuttles serving the La Turbie exit.
Of course, a park-and-ride facility will need to be built at the entrance of the departure station in La Turbie, where finding land just after the A8 exit won’t be an issue.
The length of a tunnel between La Turbie and Fontvieille in Monaco would be around 2.5 km for a cost of approximately 250 million euros. An investment far from trivial but a priority considering the economic and environmental impact of this road junction. With joint funding from the French and Monegasque states, the involved localities, and the European Union, it is not beyond reach.
Xavier Garcia
