The Valais Council of State wants more means to set up its strategy for mobility in the canton, validated in 2018. It therefore decided to modify the use of the contributions allocated by the Confederation for the network of Swiss main roads ( RPS). The latter will now be entirely funded by the federal windfall, without the participation of the canton and the municipalities.
The maneuver allows the State of Valais to release a single windfall of 82.3 million francs, mainly intended for cantonal roads, the terms of use of which will still have to be determined.
The Canton will recover 82.3 million francs it has spent on the Swiss Main Roads network since 2008.
Jacques Melly, Head of the Department of Mobility, Territory and Environment
The fruit of twelve years of reserves
RPS represents around 12% of the entire Valais road network. If they are the property of the Canton, the latter however benefits each year, for their maintenance, from federal contributions, which amounted to 31 million francs in 2019.
However, since 2008, the canton and the municipalities participated in the costs related to these roads through their ordinary budget. Consequence: part of the manna allocated by the Confederation could be put aside, little by little, until reaching the sum of 211 million francs.
“The Canton will recover the money it spent during these years, or 82.3 million francs,” said Jacques Melly, head of the Department of Mobility, Territory and Environment. “17.3 million francs will also be distributed among the municipalities which participated in the financing of these infrastructures.”
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And the Councilor of State to clarify that it is a single windfall and not a fund for financing road infrastructure as claimed by an urgent postulate of the Grand Council, accepted in June 2018.
Funds needed for cantonal roads
Co-signer of the parliamentary intervention with Sidney Kamerzin (PDC) and Marcel Delasoie (PLR), MP Grégory Logean (UDC) is convinced by this announcement. “But we will probably have to go further, even if we can already be satisfied that the road network, which suffers from chronic underinvestment, can benefit from more resources.”
In 2015, the Management Commission tried to alert the Grand Council to the potential consequences of a lack of funds in the maintenance of the road network. The bad weather at the start of 2018 had caused 35 million francs on cantonal infrastructure.
Read also: Valais has a serious problem with its roads
The manna released by the Council of State will mainly be used to upgrade the cantonal road network and adapt it to current needs in terms of safety and maintenance. It will also make it possible to finance agglomeration projects or even the requalification of crossings of localities that are not part of the scope of these projects.
The regular budget of the service will be used to develop the offer of soft mobility and public transport.
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