Transport. They still don’t want a motorway in Florange

“No to the motorway in Florange! The message chanted by the demonstrators is clear. A small fifty residents gathered this Saturday morning, March 27, in front of the town hall of Florange, to protest against the possible passage of a new motorway section through the city. “Buried or not and whatever the route, we do not want a motorway”, insist the residents, who have responded to the call of a new collective, No to the motorway in Florange, allied to the association PaiX, opposed since 2015 to the A31 bis project.

The opposition to the motorway, dormant since the 2018 public consultation, has thus picked up in recent weeks with the hypothesis of a new route suggested by the mayor, Rémy Dick, on the wastelands of the ArcelorMittal coking plant. A proposal that has revived the debates, although the creation of a section of motorway bypassing Thionville and the principle of a concession (a toll) has been enacted by the State since 2019.

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“The state wants a highway …”

With loud hailers, the demonstrators recalled their opposition to any highway crossing Florange, even underground. All fear the pollution and the nuisances generated, but also the depreciation of land, the destruction of forest etc.

Noisily challenged, Rémy Dick came to meet the demonstrators.

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In a tense exchange, the mayor recalled his position: “We do not want an urban crossing of Florange. “But for the first magistrate,” the state wants a highway […] if we are passive on the subject, we will be eaten up. My role is to find the best compromise […] We looked at how to ensure that fewer people are affected and impose arrangements that protect the inhabitants of Florange. […] Only a deep tunnel will be acceptable ”.

Rémy Dick also recalled that the studies are in progress. A new phase of public consultation should precede the choice of route by the second half of 2022. And, despite the mistrust displayed in the face of the elected, the mayor and the demonstrators find themselves at least on one observation: the necessary mobilization of citizens to be heard.

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