The Rouen motorway bypass in the hot seat

"I had underestimated the dramatic consequences of the warming", declared Monday evening the president of the Metropolis Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, qualified of "gravedigger of the bypass" by the adviser of opposition Jean-Marc Vennin. According to him, his town, Le Mesnil-Esnard, is crossed by "a thousand heavy goods vehicles per day".

Also mayor of Rouen, Mr. Mayer-Rossignol, 43, was in favor of this toll motorway project to link the A13 and the A28 when he chaired the former Haute-Normandie region. But he changed his mind and spoke out against it during the campaign for the municipal elections of 2020 which he won allied with EELV.

And Monday evening, after five hours of debate, the metropolitan council decided by 76 votes against 43 and four abstentions to "not finance" this bypass where traffic would produce 50.000 tons of CO² per year, or 50 days of emissions. an area of ​​700.000 inhabitants, "a disaster", according to EELV. Out of 53 elected members of the socialist group and citizens, only five voted against the deliberation, three abstained. In 2016, the metropolis already dominated by the PS allied with EELV had clearly come out in favor of bypassing.

Valued at 886 million before tax in 2015, the project was to be funded to the tune of 245 million euros by the State, 157 million by the Region, 66 million by the Metropolis and 22 million by the department. The contribution of the future concessionaire was to be 396 million.

A fervent defender of bypassing, the centrist metropolitan and regional councilor Pascal Houbron still wanted to believe in it on Tuesday morning.

To save the project, the region chaired by Hervé Morin, a supporter of the bypass, "could quite possibly finance part of what the metropolis does not want to do," said this elected official on France Bleu Seine-maritime / Eure .

Questioned by AFP, Mr. Morin's entourage did not wish to comment. Regional advisers are due to rule on the bypass on Monday.

No project imposed by the State

"The bypass is in great danger", reacted in a statement Bertrand Bellanger, president LREM of the departmental council of Seine-maritime which in mid-January voted the confirmation of its participation in this project "useful for the decongestion of the agglomeration" . The PS had then recognized "disagreements" within it on the subject.

"The State has always reiterated its interest in the project (...) but will not impose a project that does not achieve consensus among the local actors", for its part explained Tuesday a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport to AFP.

The State "awaits the official returns of each" but will "analyze in detail" the "alternative proposals" of the metropolis, added the spokesman.

In a letter of January 13 sent to the three communities, and of which AFP has had a copy, the prefect highlights "a crucial project for the economic attractiveness of the agglomeration".

"Rouen remains the only French metropolis of this size without bypassing the road, which translates into a significant flow of heavy goods vehicles in urban areas", continues Pierre-André Durand.

"Let's say yes to the 1.100 jobs mobilized during the 4 years of work", argued metropolitan councilor Julien Demazure (LR) on Monday evening.

But for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, "in terms of decongestion, the file was not at all convincing". And with the cost constantly rising from the consequences of CO², "the financial interest of the project is canceled", argued the mining engineer relying on criteria of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

In recent years "extremely important things have happened" such as "the amplification, at the initiative of Greta Thunberg, of climate awareness", for his part pleaded the vice-president PS in charge of finances Nicolas Rouly to justify his own turnaround.

The opposition is not convinced. "We are told that the road will be supplanted by the river and rail, but the State has disengaged from these means of transport for decades," argued Mr. Vennin.