In Strasbourg, the Green mayor takes a step towards a car-friendly tram

As the elections approach, "it will be up to each candidate to take up this report or not," which was developed over several months by 100 citizens, observed the mayor, who is running for re-election.

As far as she is concerned, if she is re-elected, she will endorse these conclusions "even when they deviate from the initial project", because "the whole issue is to strengthen the acceptability of the future project".

In December, "the largest ecological and urban transformation project of this mandate," as the municipality presented it at the time, was rejected by a public inquiry commission, which deemed the space left for cars insufficient.

This point had dismayed the Green majority, who saw it as a minimization of the climate emergency. But the executive had promised to review the project, initially estimated to cost 224 million euros.

In their conclusions, made public on Thursday, the members of the citizens' convention stressed that the "northern tram", which is to link Strasbourg to its suburbs of Schiltigheim and Bischheim, is "useful for creating a fair and viable city for future generations".

However, the developments inherent to the construction site "should not systematically exclude cars," insist the authors of the document. "Most of us believe that we should not force motorists to abandon their cars, but rather encourage them to take the tram first," they state.

"What this notice tells us is that we must continue to leave space for cars. And besides, I'm not saying the opposite," commented Ms. Barseghian.

Like its predecessors "for 30 years," its team "has sought to reduce the role of cars, including by implementing measures that may appear restrictive, or at least that disrupt habits," it analyzed.

"There, the residents are asking us to go more gradually (...) Given that for me, the priority is that this tram project is carried out, I support them 100%."