On the occasion of the budget orientation debate and the 2013 budget, regional funding for road and highway equipment was the subject of a debate in which the Greens expressed their full opposition. Eventually, a compromise was reached with a clear reduction in this funding, even though the budget still amounts to €40 million.
However, in 2013, there would be no regional funding for the doubling of the Tende Tunnel in the Alpes-Maritimes. This provoked the most vehement reaction from Eric Ciotti, who denounced “the refusal to honor” the commitments made by the Region (see inset).
“While it is important to address the safety issues posed by the current state of the tunnel, with upgrading to standards to secure traffic both in the tunnel and on the road crossing the villages of the Roya Valley, we are convinced that doubling the tunnel would lead to an traffic explosion, synonymous with a considerable increase in nuisances for the valley’s inhabitants and greenhouse gas emissions,” said Annabelle Jaeger, regional councilor for EE-LV.
“The number of light vehicles at the Col de Tende is already enormous, indeed disproportionate compared to the size of the valley villages and local needs.
The circulation of heavy goods vehicles at the Col de Tende, sustainable today given the constraints of the tunnel’s alternating passage, would naturally be amplified by doubling it, risking transforming the valley into a mere corridor between Ventimiglia, Turin, and beyond the Fréjus and Mont Blanc tunnels, which it already is for light vehicles,” continued the ecologist representative.
The Green representatives wish for the Region to concentrate its efforts on promoting modal transfer. In this regard, the Nice – Breil – Tende railway line is currently threatened due to the dilapidation of the infrastructure and the degradation of service on the Italian side.
To conclude: “Our region must clearly choose to prioritize the renovation of the railway line and the restoration of a true cross-border service between NICE and CUNEO. We still call for a revision of the Franco-Italian convention which determines the financing and operation conditions of the French part of the railway between Breil / Tende and the Italian border.”
