A daily thoroughfare, rue Barla is about to become the focus of a collective reflection. The Vivre Nice collective is launching a consultation on the redevelopment of this crucial yet problematic thoroughfare for both residents and users.
It’s hard to avoid rue Barla. Located in the heart of Nice, it connects the lower Corniche to the port and crosses a dense neighborhood, between Place Garibaldi and the Coulée verte. It is one of those arteries where everything converges: residents, shopkeepers, motorists, tourists, delivery drivers, pedestrians, buses, bicycles. The street plays a major role in travel toward the east of the metropolis, notably towards Monaco, Menton, and Italy.
But this central role comes at a cost. The street is often described as congested, noisy, polluted, and accident-prone. These terms, echoed in the consultation document distributed by the Vivre Nice collective, summarize a widely shared sentiment.
The situation is not new. For several years, residents have expressed their fatigue with the traffic density and noise. With the development of the port and the intensification of urban flows, the pressure has increased. Urban sprawl makes the street even more in-demand, sometimes beyond its capacity.
The project initiators therefore want to open the debate. “One day or another, everyone uses rue Barla,” the call for participation reminds. Their goal: to gather the observations of residents and workers in the neighborhood to consider concrete solutions.
Seeking Solutions from the Population
The collective poses several questions to users: are more people using it? Does urban sprawl make it more unavoidable? What is the user profile: more workers, tourists, delivery drivers? Is the street a victim of double parking? These questions aim to provide a complete overview before any proposals.
The suggested ideas are clear: to ease traffic congestion, smooth circulation, reduce air and noise pollution, and propose alternatives to improve neighborhood life. These ideas reflect a desire to find a balance between accessibility and quality of life.
For Hélène Granouillac, a member of the Vivre Nice collective, this approach goes beyond just rue Barla. She explains: “rue Barla goes beyond this single axis, it’s the entire neighborhood and even the circulation of outsiders that are concerned. We’ve met quite a few people. We already have some proposals to make (…) in consultation with the first users. There are quite a few things emerging, there are clear bottlenecks since it’s a very narrow and structural axis of Nice.”
She also emphasizes the chosen method: “the consultation is really done on-site, on the ground.” This participatory approach relies on direct meetings with residents, shopkeepers, and users of the street.
The Vivre Nice collective also aims to incorporate this work into a broader political dynamic, in view of the 2026 municipal elections. As Hélène Granouillac specifies: “we have created a list for, within the framework of the 2026 municipal elections, where we hope to bridge the disillusioned, the discouraged, from both the right and the left.”
The idea is therefore to mix local action and political reflection, from a concrete issue that concerns daily life. The consultation remains open. Residents and people working on the street are invited to write via the vivrenice.org website. The collective thus hopes to gather a wide range of viewpoints before making more detailed proposals.
Beyond traffic, the redevelopment of rue Barla questions the transformation of Nice’s city center. Located on the edge of the Coulée verte, it could become a more breathable space and better integrated with new mobilities. It is still necessary to reconcile uses, technical constraints, and residents’ expectations.
