Is participatory democracy arriving in Nice?
Beyond the specific event, it’s rather good news. Sometimes it’s good to ask citizens what they think…
It’s also an opportunity for a fine confrontation of ideas and proposals between the municipal majority (trend “egocracy”) and the opposition (trend populocracy).
Finally, as the poet said… A little sunshine in cold water!
The method is good, now we have to see the result.
To be continued…
Statement from Christian Estrosi (Mayor of Nice)
Listening to the residents
In October 2009, following a wide public consultation, I established the main principles for the route of the new East-West tramway line in Nice, going from the airport and the administrative center in the West to the port in the East.
In accordance with my commitments and to take into account the many requests made during the consultation, the route includes a terminus station at the Eastern end, located at the Port on the Place Ile de Beauté.
Every day, 31,000 cars and more than 690 buses circulate on the Place Ile de Beauté.
The new tramway line is a means to reduce these very significant traffic flows, which are the cause of numerous nuisances (pollution, noise…).
The technical studies conducted have forced us to rule out the option of an underground station beneath Place Ile de Beauté.
At this stage, the precise design and placement of this station now pose a question for us: either a surface terminal station at Place Ile de Beauté, as the project foresees, or an underground terminal station at the level of Rue Ségurane and Place Garibaldi.
My wish, in agreement with the populations of the district, is to achieve the best compromise to significantly eliminate buses and car traffic and to serve residents and merchants as best as possible.
I wish, once again, as I do for every project, to gather their opinions through a letter I have just sent them.
Together with the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, the owner of the Port, and its President Eric Ciotti, we will pay the greatest attention to the responses provided and the report submitted at the end of the public inquiry, by the Investigating Commissioner appointed by the President of the Administrative Tribunal.
At the end of the legal procedures, I will then make the final adjustments to this project so that it meets the expectations of the population.
Statement from Marc Concas (PS)
Tramway Line 2
For or against the terminus at Place Ile de Beauté? The previous municipal team led by Jacques PEYRAT had studied a project for a terminus of line 2 of the tramway at Place Ile de Beauté, with two possible paths,
either via Rue Cassini or via the Barla-Arson axis.
I had asked you at the time, and many of you expressed your concerns about this first project.
The current municipal team led by Christian ESTROSI also seems to have difficulty choosing a route. After fortunately giving up on routing this line along the Promenade des Anglais, the Mayor of NICE also abandoned routing this line through the Riquier-Arson sector, opting for a terminus at Place Ile de Beauté, with the idea of an underground route.
I consider that placing the terminus of Line 2 at Place Ile de Beauté is a serious mistake with heavy consequences for our already totally saturated neighborhood.
Rue Cassini does not allow the implementation of a surface tramway line, and we are all aware of the illusory nature of an underground line, technically complex and very costly.
The tramway stop at Place Garibaldi seems to be the perfect focal point for a line 2 that would follow the line 1 from Garibaldi to Nice Etoile and veer westwards to join the existing dedicated traffic lanes, up to the future multi-modal hub in the west of the City.
After the demolition of the bus station, the Municipality plans the demolition of the Promenade du Paillon to establish the future green corridor there. I am, of course, in favor of demolishing this structure which disfigures our neighborhood.
However, like the residents and merchants of Vieux Nice, I am concerned about this demolition without a replacement solution for those who benefited from reduced rates and proximity parking. Yet the Municipality informs us that subscribers will be distributed in the neighboring car parks, two of which are still not realized (Fodéré and Sulzer).
I wish to collect your opinions and suggestions, which I will certainly bring to the attention of the Mayor of Nice.
