What is this 18 km long cycle street project in Bordeaux?

A route where the bike would really be the little queen. It is a project, led by Velocity Associationof bikestreet or extensive cycling street over 18 kilometers in Bordeaux, the contours of which we are revealing on the occasion of world bicycle day, this Friday, June 3. A first axis would serve the city over 11 km from north to south, from Belcier to Bacalan, on the route of the current “small ring road” and another cycle street would cross it, going from Caudéran to the right bank, over 7 km.

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Inspired by what is done in Germany and the Netherlands, the cycle street offers priority traffic for bicycles in both directions, without prohibiting car traffic for residents and local services. The objective is to eliminate transit traffic, or “waze journeys”, which passes through these streets of the “small ring road” to reach Mérignac, for example, from the right bank. With its own color code, the vélorue must offer a safe environment for cyclists and a peaceful atmosphere for local residents.

“It’s a bit like what was done on rue Dandicolle but we would like to go further, with a qualitative redevelopment and revegetation of the street in the long term”, underlines Ludovic Fouché, president of Vélocité. Sidewalks can be lowered or removed in some places, parking can also disappear. “It’s about having the feeling of being in a different street, attractive to residents and shopkeepers,” adds the president. Today it is very poor in local shops, apart from a few polarities. »

“Avoid these “Waze journeys””

The Bordeaux quays are very popular with cyclists who even go so far as to extend their journeys to go through its secure tracks rather than taking streets that give the advantage to the car. “The vélorue should make it possible to connect residential areas located between the courtyards and the boulevards, explains Ludovic Fouché. It’s a bit complicated to cycle there, especially with children because you have to live with the buses, in the context of intense traffic. »

The project emerged at the request of inhabitants of Bordeaux-south and still needs to be refined. “It’s a healthy and reasonable objective, but we’re not yet moving forward to say that it’s doable,” comments Didier Jeanjean, deputy mayor in charge of nature in the city and peaceful neighborhoods. We are awaiting the engineers’ diagnoses. We should not transfer the flows to other streets but ask ourselves to build alternatives and avoid these “”Waze routes””.

Realized from 2024?

This project will have to wait for the end of the work on the express bus because some deviations will pass through the “small ring road”. “If the cycle street is feasible, it will be carried out in sequence, announces the deputy mayor and we would probably start with the southern Bordeaux district. The vélorue starting from Caudéran would open up the district, which is not served by the tramway.

The cycle street, sized on the scale of the city and not of the metropolis for faster implementation, has the advantage of not having to redo all the roads. This makes credible an achievement between 2024 and 2026.

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