With a journey time halved between Poitiers and Limoges, a significant drop in the number of accidents in the line of sight and an estimated commissioning by 2030, the arguments of the promoters of the motorway are numerous. A public consultation has been launched since the beginning of the month. But in this file, many people are still asking questions, wondering about the real usefulness of such a work estimated at more than 1 billion euros. Among them, the environmentalist mayor of Poitiers. Invited on France Bleu Poitou of the special morning devoted to the file, Léonore Moncond’huy fires this Tuesday with red balls on the project. “Unacceptable”, “not serious”, particularly in terms of carbon emissions and the preservation of agricultural land. Léonore Moncond’huy emphasizes the decongestion of the entrance to Poitiers and the “everyday mobility”.
France Bleu Poitou: A highway in Poitiers and Limoges, a false good idea?
Leonore Moncond’huy: Committing today to a new motorway project is out of step with the ecological and economic emergencies and the real mobility issues of the moment. There are urgent need to make the Poitiers-Limoges link safer and faster. I do not disagree. We’ve been waiting for years for the existing projects, the bypass projects, the two-way light-duty projects, to move forward. And the state must advance projects rather than entertaining us with unrealistic projects.
If we want to be serious, we have to tackle the real problems. We know that 70% of the traffic on this Poitiers-Limoges link is local traffic. That is to say people, for example, who live near Poitiers and who come in the morning to work at the CHU at the University. There is an urgent need to unclog the entrance to Poitiers. And for example, Grand Poitiers and the State carry a light bypass and multimodal hub project which will be announced in the coming weeks. The priority for state funds is this project. And the motorway project as it is presented today says that the amount of 1 billion euros that you mentioned does not include the financing of other projects of this type which are dedicated to the mobility of everyday life, which is really the priority for the people of Poitevines and Poitevins, and – I think so too – for the people of Limoges.
What is the state’s interest in this case? Win time ?
We are also in an election period, which facilitates the fact that unrealistic debates of this type are held, totally out of step with the issues and local priorities of the moment. And then, beyond being unacceptable, it’s a non-serious project and which does not meet the commitments of the State on a certain number of subjects. I was talking about ecological emergencies. We are all making efforts, we are asking people to do so, to reduce the carbon impact linked to mobility. And France itself is committed within the framework of the Paris agreements, within the framework of the national low-carbon strategy, for example. And there, we are offered to support a project which we know will have a strong impact on the increase in carbon emissions linked to mobility.
And then, I am also attached to the issues of fundamental sobriety. Here again, we are asking to reduce the consumption of non-artificialized land, in particular agricultural land. And this project would correspond to the artificialization of 800 hectares of agricultural land. But today, the priority is to preserve these lands and therefore to land sobriety.
A major consultation started at the beginning of the month. You are mayor of Poitiers. What is your place in this debate and who is the real conductor? How’s it going ?
I took part in the consultation meeting which took place at the University of Poitiers last week. The opinion of the main communities concerned is sought. The city of Poitiers will soon vote on a deliberation which will give its opinion on this motorway project. But it is obvious that the city of Poitiers will not finance, for example, this project and our role is to recall the priorities for the daily mobility of Poitevines and Poitevins. And these priorities are not a new highway.
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