Voiture dans Grenoble. © Patricia Cerinsek - placegrenet.fr

30 km/h : a “cal­mer” metro­po­lis, but wor­ried eco­no­mic stakeholders

30 km/h : a “cal­mer” metro­po­lis, but wor­ried eco­no­mic stakeholders

INSIGHT – The com­munes, which make up the Grenoble Metropolis, have deci­ded, by an overw­hel­ming majo­rity, to gra­dually reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h in the region, from the second half of 2016. A first in France on large city scale. Objectives : to improve safety and reduce pol­lu­tion. A deci­sion that was not una­ni­mous, howe­ver, espe­cially in the eco­no­mic world.

© Joël Kermabon - Place Gre'net

In 2016, the excep­tion becomes the rule. © Joël Kermabon – Place Gre’net

The 50 km/h speed limit signs at the entrance of the muni­ci­pa­li­ties, in the Grenoble area, will all be repla­ced. Starting in the second half of 2016, it will not be pos­sible to drive at more than 30 km/h, except on cer­tain major routes, which will remain limi­ted at 50 km/h. Therefore, we will no lon­ger speak of ’30 zones”, but of ’50 zones”, the lat­ter beco­ming the exception.

A regu­la­tory fra­me­work for a “cal­mer metro­po­lis”, which aims to improve the coexis­tence bet­ween cars and the most vul­ne­rable road users, such as pedes­trians and cyclists

Reduce the risk of col­li­sion inju­ries with pedestrians

For Yann Mongaburu, vice pre­sident in charge of tra­vel in the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, safety, par­ti­cu­larly for chil­dren and elderly people, is at the heart of the chal­lenges for a cal­mer metro­po­lis. « When we cross our towns and vil­lages, each per­son must be res­pec­ted and feel secure in public areas », he explains. Of course, high­lights the offi­cial, car users must have their place, just like other modes of travel.

Conférence de presse du 15 septembre 2015. © Joël Kermabon - Place Gre-net

© Joël Kermabon – Place Gre-net

That includes wal­king, « too often for­got­ten, and which cur­rently repre­sents 30% of jour­neys in Metro, » he says.

« This is a prag­ma­tic mea­sure, if not com­mon sense. Speed mode­ra­tion can divide the risk of injury in a col­li­sion bet­ween a car and a pedes­trian by nine », explains Yann Mongaburu. He adds, « A car tra­vel­ling at 50 km/h, which strikes a pedes­trian, causes one death every second. If tra­vel­ling at 30 km/h, this risk is divi­ded by nine ». This is one of the deter­mi­ning fac­tors for the safety of people in public areas, accor­ding to the official.

Acceleration res­pon­sible for 30% of emissions

What about the impact on pol­lu­tion ? Besides the fact that a car rarely reaches a speed of 50 km/h in town, the idea is to play on the effects of acce­le­ra­tion and dece­le­ra­tion, rather than on the actual speed throu­ghout the jour­ney. Indeed, the speed limits in the urban areas are too com­plex and accen­tuate the phe­no­me­non of regime changes. « By har­mo­ni­zing and sim­pli­fying the rules, while playing on these para­me­ters, we not only improve secu­rity, but we also play on pollution. »

Un schéma plus lisible et plus logique. © Métro

A clea­rer and more logi­cal schema. © Métro

« We know that acce­le­ra­tion is res­pon­sible for 30% of the pol­lu­tant emis­sions rela­ted to road traf­fic », affirms Yann Mongaburu. However, the vice-pre­sident of the metro­po­lis is well aware that there might be resis­tance. « For a rule to be accep­ted, it needs to be unders­tood », he tem­pers. « This will allow us to make speed mode­ra­tion rule more unders­tan­dable, easier for our citi­zens. We are bet­ting that they will have more res­pect, if they unders­tand it better. »

Six “dis­si­dent” com­munes in the agglomeration

« This approach is not in any case impo­sed. It is based on com­mu­nal will. This is the basis of the pro­ject. The metro­po­lis is the host of this metro­po­li­tan dyna­mic, on an unpre­ce­den­ted scale », high­lights Christophe Ferrari, the pre­sident of the metro­pole, who wel­comes that « this dyna­mic trans­cends all of the poli­ti­cal sen­si­ti­vi­ties of the communes. »

In fact, the city offi­cials have lite­rally sei­zed the bull by the horns, using a pro­vi­sion of the energy tran­si­tion law. Passed during the sum­mer, it pro­vides an oppor­tu­nity for muni­ci­pa­li­ties to set a maxi­mum speed lower than the offi­cial limit.

Christophe Ferrari. © Nils Louna - placegrenet.fr

Christophe Ferrari. © Nils Louna – pla​ce​gre​net​.fr

However, appa­rently not all of them are convin­ced of the rele­vance of this approach. Six towns out of the forty-nine that make up the metro­po­lis, have refu­sed, for now, to join the project.

Christophe Ferrari, howe­ver, has no doubt that some will come round : « The pro­cess is star­ting. Others will join us after City Council debates, with their elec­ted repre­sen­ta­tives », he reas­su­rin­gly predicts.

Among the six “dis­si­dent” com­munes, the first deputy of the muni­ci­pa­lity of Meylan, Jean-Claude Peyrin, spoke in an article in Le Monde on 15th September.

« This is a false “good idea”. We have ‘30 zones’ in Meylan, but to esta­blish a speed limit, it is neces­sary that moto­rists consi­der it legi­ti­mate. Prohibit just to pro­hi­bit, it is not use­ful, » he declared.

Again we speak about com­pe­tences trans­fer­red to the metropolis…

There are elec­ted offi­cials who go fur­ther and raise other ques­tions. This is the case of Jean-Damien Mermillod-Blondin, Mayor of Corenc and com­mu­nity Advisor. « The real pro­blem of the metro­po­lis, where it slips up, is “how do you drive at 30 km/h in many places, and during dif­ferent times of the day, in view of the conges­tion level in each agglo­me­ra­tion?” », consi­ders the official.

De gauche à droite : Christophe Ferrari, président de la Métropole et Mermillod-Blondin, maire de Corenc. © Joël Kermabon - Place Grer'net

Christophe Ferrari and Mermillod-Blondin. © Joël Kermabon – Place Grer’net

If the Mayor accepts this limi­ta­tion in the inter­est of consis­tency, it will be under seve­ral conditions.

« Firstly, it will be me who decides where the ’30 zones” will be. Secondly, as agreed, it will be the metro­po­lis that pays for signal­ling. Thirdly, it makes rea­lis­tic pro­po­sals about where we drive at less than 30km/h and at 30 km/h. Fourthly, I want the Metropole to review its posi­tion on the enlar­ge­ment of the A480 ». Indeed, he consi­ders that this fourth condi­tion is one of the first solu­tions to be imple­men­ted, in order to begin decon­ges­ting the city.

In order to bet­ter unders­tand the representative’s posi­tion, it must be known that during pas­sage in the Metropolis, each of the mayors was asked whe­ther or not they would waive their power to police traf­fic on the roads. Optional juris­dic­tion in this case. Mayors who did not give up this juris­dic­tion have the legal right not to sub­mit to Metropolitan will. It will be up to them to deter­mine zones and cor­res­pon­ding speed limits. Suddenly, not so simple. The har­mo­ni­za­tion and consis­tency desi­red by the Metropolis may suf­fer a major setback !

AN ONLINE SUGGESTION BOX

In addi­tion to the regu­la­tory changes, it is also an oppor­tu­nity for the com­munes to rede­sign public spaces. Grenoble-Alpes Métropole seeks the exper­tise of its people, to do this ; an “online sug­ges­tion box” is already in place.

This is the peo­ple’s chance to pro­pose their ideas, such as the pedes­tria­ni­za­tion of cer­tain streets during cer­tain hours, pla­cing benches, or even the recon­fi­gu­ra­tion of places and areas sur­roun­ding schools. It’s open to the imagination !

« This is not revo­lu­tion, but evolution »

For Christophe Ferrari, it is not a ques­tion of « revo­lu­tion, but evo­lu­tion. » As evi­dence, he cites the cal­cu­la­tions pro­vi­ded by road ser­vices, which tend to show the weak influence the new mea­sures would have on the flow of traffic.

Profil de vitesse théoriques

© Gre. Mag – Philippe Mouche

The figures show that in the case of a limi­ta­tion of 50 km/h, the ave­rage tra­vel speed is 18.9 km/h, and in the case of a limi­ta­tion of 30 km/h, it is 17.3 km/h. The dif­fe­rence would be insignificant.

The President of the Metropolis is convin­ced : « This action is the begin­ning of a new way of thin­king about the ques­tion of public spaces, to improve coha­bi­ta­tion bet­ween dif­ferent modes of tra­vel, reduce pol­lu­tion and revi­ta­lize the local shops. » Implicitly with the hope of increa­sing the attrac­ti­ve­ness of the public trans­port network.

Revitalize trade ? Not sure…

Regarding the revi­ta­li­za­tion of com­merce, Jean Vaylet, pre­sident of Grenoble’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), does not believe it will. « Reducing the speed is a somew­hat dog­ma­tic approach. As head of the eco­no­mic world, I believe that any­thing that reduces the flow of traf­fic is anti-eco­no­mic », declares the pre­sident, denoun­cing a lack of consis­tency with the pro­blems of the local eco­nomy. « We would pre­fer to give a bet­ter image of Grenoble, than with sub­jects of this type. I do not think that this will revi­ta­lize trade at all, and the tra­ders are of the same opinion ! »

© Joël Kermabon - Place Gre'net

© Joël Kermabon – Place Gre’net

A view sha­red by Philippe Gueydon, pre­sident of Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) in Isère. « This is ano­ther way to constrain move­ment around Grenoble, while busi­nesses need the exact oppo­site ! » he deplores.

« All the sta­tis­tics in our pos­ses­sion show that Grenoble, and more gene­rally the south of the depart­ment, is in the pro­cess of an eco­no­mic decline. Our per­for­mance is below the natio­nal average. »

It is not for lack of having acti­va­ted the alarm, accor­ding to him. « For seve­ral years, the Medef has been trying to edu­cate the elec­ted offi­cials on the pro­blem of move­ment around the Grenoble basin. We have to advance on solu­tions ! What the enter­prises expect is that it is only a bet­ter flui­dity of traf­fic, and not a gene­ra­li­za­tion of the speed limit to 30 km/h, which will bring about this result. »

He consi­ders that one single mea­sure might have wor­ked, on condi­tion that was put in place, in paral­lel with a real pro­gram of invest­ment in the infra­struc­ture of roads. « Then it would have made sense ! » conclu­ded the president.

Joël Kermabon

80 % ’30 ZONES” IN GRENOBLE IN JANUARY, 2016

What about Grenoble’s city centre ? Not sur­pri­sin­gly, the city of Grenoble fully sup­ports the ini­tia­tive, almost 80% of the muni­ci­pa­li­ties of the metro­po­lis are in agree­ment. On the sub­ject of the new future speed limits, there will be a short delay at the begin­ning, but this will be sor­ted out qui­ckly, if one believes Eric Piolle, the mayor of Grenoble.

V© Ville de Grenoble - www.grenoble.fr

Click on the map to dis­co­ver the 30 and 50 zones. © Ville de Grenoble – www​.gre​noble​.fr

« Today we are less advan­ced than others, with only 25% of lanes res­tric­ted to 30 km/h. It will be 80% from January 2016, » says the official.

For the imple­men­ta­tion of the speed limit plan, the offi­cial empha­sizes the spe­cial atten­tion that will be paid to the situa­tion of the elderly, who are increa­sing in num­bers, and to chil­dren, espe­cially in regards to areas around schools and to their safety. An oppor­tu­nity for him to take ano­ther look at the school plan, where the idea of​a « city for the chil­dren » is widely dis­cus­sed, and finds its trans­la­tion in the idea of a cal­mer metropolis.

Traduction from Speak English Center

Phone : +33 4 76 50 39 79

1 ave­nue du Vercors, 38600 Fontaine FRANCE

Joël Kermabon

Auteur

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

Ce site utilise Akismet pour réduire les indésirables. En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées.

A lire aussi sur Place Gre'net

L'EFS Opération (inédite en Isère) de collecte de sang au sein de l'école Jules-Ferry de Grenoble au don du sang et rappelle que le pass sanitaire n'est pas nécessaire pour se rendre aux collectes
Journée mon­diale des don­neurs de sang : des col­lectes à Grenoble sur fond de cam­pagne pour récol­ter plus de dons

FLASH INFO - La journée mondiale des donneurs de sang (JMDS) se tient ce mercredi 14 juin, date incontournable pour l’Établissement français du sang (EFS) qui Lire plus

La Ville de Meylan décroche le label Ville prudente, décerné par l'association Prévention routière
Dispositif « Métropole apai­sée » : Meylan, Sarcenas et Corenc adoptent à leur tour la limi­ta­tion à 30 km/h

FLASH INFO – Quarante-cinq communes au compteur... du passage aux 30 Km/h. Avec Meylan et Sarcenas au mois de novembre 2021, puis Corenc en mars Lire plus

Vidéosurveillance et polices municipales: la Région adopte des "contrats régionaux de sécurité"
Après l’ac­cord avec le PS, des mili­tants de Cap21 et de l’AEI démis­sionnent pour créer un nou­veau mouvement

  EN BREF - Certains militants voient une « erreur politique » dans le ralliement au PS de Cap21 et de l'Alliance écologiste indépendante (AEI) pour Lire plus

Hydroélectricité alpine : cap sur le numérique et l'écologie Barrage de Livet-Gavet en eau. © EDF
Rencontres Business Hydro : les acteurs de l’hy­dro­élec­tri­cité alpine misent sur le numé­rique et l’écologie

  FOCUS - La 5e édition des Rencontres Business Hydro qui devait se tenir le 10 novembre prochain est remplacée par un événement en ligne, Lire plus

Une vache s’est invitée gratuitement – pic de pollution oblige – à bord d’une rame de tramway ce mardi 13 décembre en début de soirée à Grenoble. © Joël Kermabon - Place Gre'net
Une vache des­cen­due de Chartreuse pro­fite de la gra­tuité des transports !

Une vache s'est invitée à bord d'une rame de tramway ce mardi 13 décembre en début de soirée. Non, il ne s'agit pas d'une information Lire plus

Koolicar company launched the "Two months without my car" challenge which aims at making motorists less addicted to four wheels.
« Two months without my car » A hun­dred people in Grenoble take up the challenge

FOCUS - Two months without a car to test alternative modes of transport, such is the challenge taken up by 100 people in Grenoble at Lire plus

Flash Info

Les plus lus

Agenda

Je partage !