In full relaunch of the public debate around the route of the A31 bis intended to relieve congestion in the Lorraine area – 115 km between Gye (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and the Luxembourg border -, the local representatives of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) and the French Communist Party (PCF) wanted to express themselves to share a common position. A common opposition. On the table are four routes that bypass Thionville. “We forget that there is a fifth element: the ability to say no,” confronts Guy Harau, EELV city councillor.
Éliane Romani, regional councilor and president of the EELV group , does not escape the fact that there is “an increase in cross-border workers and growing needs. But we are in the 21st century after the Paris agreements and solutions from the past are being offered to us”, the regional leader of the Greens thunders.
“A public debate against alternative solutions”
“They still want us to believe that the motorway is the alpha and omega of the transport project, regrets in turn Jacques Maréchal, departmental secretary of the PCF 57 who points to “a public debate against alternative solutions”. He explains: “When we open one more motorway, we appeal to road traffic”, criticizing in passing “the discrepancy that exists between the observations made and the solutions provided”.
And Éliane Romani continues: “The prefect tells us, the A31 bis integrates other solutions such as P+R, and the increase in train times. We have to go further. We have to stay on course for something greener. »
The solutions that EELV and PCF are proposing are the reopening of the railway section between Fontoy and Esch-Belval and the development of a real car pooling project. “Carpooling is organized. You need a dedicated site. The state must provide the means to encourage people to carpool”, underlines Jacques Maréchal. “Why not consider a third route between Thionville and the border which would be reserved exclusively for carpooling and public transport? And not three lanes of traffic and an emergency lane which would act as a traffic jam, as the prefect suggested. »
