FOCUS – Will there be a cable car connec­tion from Fontaine to Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux tram junc­tion, in 2021 ? The cable car, which pro­mises to cover 3.7 kilo­metres in 15 minutes, is on track. But, stung by the epi­sode of Vercors, its pro­mo­ters have kept the plans quiet.

After a very contro­ver­sial pro­ject in Vercors, which was aban­do­ned, the Metro turns toward the val­ley. © La Métro

Will Grenoble get its cable car (at last)? After much research, both in the south and north of the town, and an abor­ted pro­ject in Vercors, the cable car is back, but this time, the urban version.

This time, there will be a trans­ver­sal connec­tion. Northwest of Grenoble, in 2021, a cable car could connect the 3.7 km, from Fontaine to Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux, span­ning two rivers (the Drac and the Isère), the motor­way (the A480 ), the main road (the RN481) and the railway.

The objec­tive ? To connect tram­way lines A, B and E within 15 minutes of each other, thus impro­ving the inter­mo­dal crosslinks.

Also to ease the traf­fic in an already conges­ted area, as the deve­lop­ment pro­jects on the Peninsula, in Oxford Park, on the Esplanade and in the Portes du Vercors, are well under­way… Just on the Peninsula alone, with the increa­sed urba­ni­za­tion, 70,000 addi­tio­nal trips are pre­dic­ted, every day.

« Safe, reliable, silent »… and inexpensive

In short, we need to « think tra­vel, before the end of the deve­lop­ment ope­ra­tions », as the pre­sident of the metro­po­lis, Christophe Ferrari, poin­ted out during the pre­sen­ta­tion of the pro­ject at the begin­ning of October. And it is urgent… Every day, 100,000 vehicles pile onto the A480, with its cohort of traf­fic jams.

3.7 km bet­ween Fontaine and Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux. © La Métro

« It’s a sec­tor with large-scale urban pro­jects », confirms Yann Mongaburu, vice-pre­sident dele­ga­ted to tra­vel. « It is vital that the need to tra­vel does not increase traf­fic in the sec­tor. We must, the­re­fore, offer an alter­na­tive inex­pen­sive means of transport ».

In fact, inte­gra­ted into the exis­ting net­work, tra­vel­ling by cable car will be inclu­ded in the urban trans­port ticket. Bonus !

For the pre­sident of the Metropolis, the cable car only has advantages.

Well almost ! The issue of poten­tial visual impact remains, but the cable car is « safe, reliable and silent ». It’s per­haps not as fast as a bike, but for the moment, no bet­ter solu­tion has been found.

Will it be expen­sive ? Certainly less than the tram, and the 300 mil­lion euros inves­ted in the 12km of line E… The Métrocâble is expec­ted to cost bet­ween 54 and 60 mil­lion euros, depen­ding on the options (size or stan­ding of the cabins, choice of pylons, pos­sible auto­ma­ted sta­tions…) and the num­ber of sta­tions (four or five)*.

8,500 pas­sen­gers per day and… cargo at night ?

By the 2030 dead­line, the pro­ject plans to trans­port 8,500 pas­sen­gers per day, from 5am to 9pm. Its pro­mo­ters reserve the right to exploit it at night to trans­port freight “at a later date”…

The cable car trans­port pro­ject plans to connect Fountain to Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux in fif­teen minutes. © La Métro

Stung by the epi­sode of Vercors, its pro­mo­ters have kept the plans quiet. As of Monday 5^th October, until 13^th November, 2015, users are invi­ted to give their opi­nion (see below), either fol­lo­wing work­shops, on records kept in the local town halls or online

« Citizen par­ti­ci­pa­tion is an essen­tial ele­ment in the construc­tion of the pro­ject », assures Marie-Josée Salat, vice-pre­sident dele­ga­ted to citi­zen par­ti­ci­pa­tion, edu­ca­tion and the fight against dis­cri­mi­na­tion, until the imple­men­ta­tion of the project.

Cable cars or Chrono bus ?

The cable car must now prove itself… on paper, because the pro­ject has a com­pe­ti­tor : the Chrono bus. Plan B ? For Christophe Ferrari, (ano­ther) fai­lure is out of the question.

Once consul­ta­tion is com­plete, the metro­po­li­tan offi­cials will deli­be­rate and vote, in order to make a deci­sion at the end of the year. After a public inquiry (expec­ted in 2018), work should start in 2020, and be ready to put into ser­vice in 2021.

Patricia Cerinsek

* The four sta­tion option includes : Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux – Hôtel de ville (cor­res­pon­ding with tram E), Grenoble-place de la Résistance (tram B, air­port shut­tles), Sassenage-Argentière (Chrono bus line 6 and Fontaine-La Poya (tram A). The five sta­tion option also includes Sassenage-Saulée.

Traduction from Speak English Center

Phone : +33 4 76 50 39 79

1 ave­nue du Vercors, 38600 Fontaine FRANCE