Controversy and Progress: Inside Grenoble’s Métrocable Project

The public inquiry began on November 6 around the Métrocâble project, an urban cable car which could see the light of day in the Grenoble metropolitan area. France 3 Alpes returns to the objectives of this project and its contested aspects.

The Métrocable project continues to chart its course. This urban cable car in the north-west of the Grenoble metropolitan area could see the light of day by 2026, after having been reworked and postponed several times since 2014. And the project remains contested by collectives and certain elected officials who question its merits .

What is the objective of the Métrocable? Where are we really? Why is he so criticized?

France 3 Alpes looks back at the main points of this project.

What would the Métrocable look like?

A 3.5 km long cable connection between Fontaine and Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux via Sassenage and the Grenoble Peninsula. This is what the Métrocable could look like, the objective of which is to offer an alternative in terms of transport in order to reduce car travel.

The future cable car, comprising four stations, would connect residential areas to places of activity with a time range of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Transport time is estimated at 13 minutes from one end of the line to the other.

The advantage of a cable connection, supported by the Grenoble Area Mixed Mobility Union (Smmag), is the flight over several obstacles: the Isère and Drac rivers, railway tracks, the highway… All for a total cost estimated at around 65 million euros.

The public inquiry began on November 6 around this project. This regulatory procedure, supervised by an investigating commissioner, aims to collect the opinion of the public who can consult the file at the investigation site or directly online. The register will close on December 21.

Why such a project ?

This involves responding to population growth but also to the concentration of economic activity on the Grenoble Peninsula, a district bringing together numerous scientific research centers and industries. “We know that there will be 35,000 new trips by 2035” in this sector, argues Sylvain Laval, president of Smmag and mayor of Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux.

“When I sometimes hear that this project would not be useful, would not have enough attendance, I am very surprised because our job is to prepare for the future and anticipate tomorrow’s travel”, he adds. Because the Métrocable suffered from the termination of a project: the Portes du Vercors district in Sassenage.

Some 500 housing units were to be built not far from a future urban cable car station. But the idea was abandoned at the start of the year because of a significant risk of flooding. A problem for the Environmental Authority which made an advisory opinion on the Métrocâble project last February.

She recommended, just before abandoning the town planning project, “to condition the confirmation of the cable connection project on the possibility of opening the Portes du Vercors sector to urbanization”considering that the two are strongly linked “due to the fact [de] induced attendance”.

This argument was widely taken up by opponents of the Métrocable including the MP (LFI) Elisa Martin for whom this new connection is not interesting “on a financial level relative to the number of people concerned.”

What impact on traffic?

The Smmag highlights a “carbon-free transport system [qui] will help reduce road congestion in these areas by encouraging residents to leave their cars in the garage and choose other modes of travel.”

The Métrocable could transport up to 1,500 people per hour per direction with a cabin every 73 seconds. If this project does indeed allow a reduction in automobile traffic, according to Elisa Martin, it does so “In volumes which are not sufficient relative to the number of people concerned”.

It is indeed a global mobility project which is proposed in a saturated sector, every day in congestion.

Sylvain Laval, president of Smmag

in France 3 Alpes

The Environmental Authority confirms that the impact on traffic would be “relatively weak”. “The number of fewer vehicles is estimated at 150 upon entry into service and 400 in 2035”, write the authors of the report. Because the majority of Métrocable users would, according to her, be made up of people already using public transport: “93% upon commissioning, 87% in 2035.”

“The project also includes the development of bicycle-related services, the connection to the public transport network with the connection game, the development of carpooling… It is indeed a global mobility project which is proposed in a saturated sector , every day in congestionadvances for his part Sylvain Laval. Because the current system is not enough, we need an additional project.”

This transverse cable connection, crossing lines A, B and E of the tramway, would allow better access to the public transport network. While remaining a mode of transport “virtuous because it is energy efficient, without direct CO2 emissions and does not (participate) in atmospheric pollution”can we read on the Smmag website.

Any alternatives considered?

Opponents of the Métrocable would prefer that other mobility projects be considered. “We also want to provide alternatives such as footbridges which would be relevant in the Presqu’île district. (…) Existing infrastructures could meet current and future needs”argues an activist.

A high level of service bus connection (BHNS) was once considered. But this solution “presents greater environmental impacts than the cable connection, a greater land impact and greater works impacts, a longer journey time, [des] lower comfort, regularity, reliability and fluidity, and remains subject to road traffic problems.notes the Environmental Authority which however recommended “to deepen the analysis” around this option.

“What needs to be developedalso underlines MP Elisa Martin, there are more trains and more passages on tram line A which is the busiest line. We need to think of a hub-and-spoke organization that would allow everyone to travel by bus.”

Smmag has already planned to invest to add larger tram trains, explains Sylvain Laval. “But this will not solve everything because there will be additional travel needshe insists. For this, we need to add a complementary offer.”

What timetable?

The commissioning of the Métrocable is now envisaged from 2026. But many steps remain to be taken before launching the urban cable car project. These can only begin once the public inquiry has been completed and its conclusions rendered at the end of the year.

Several authorizations must then be requested, including the declaration of public utility, environmental authorization and building permits for the construction of the stations. The prefect of Isère will make a large part of these decisions but the issuing of building permits falls to the mayors of the municipalities concerned.

However, the elected representatives of Sassenage are historically opposed to the project and the Grenoble municipal council issued a reserved opinion in November 2022, this one appearing to them “not priority”. Despite these announced difficulties, Smmag hopes to launch work in 2024 for entry into service in the following years.