- For a month, the town hall of Nice wants to "test the ban on driving in cars on certain axes to promote cycling and avoid confinement in public transport".
- The association Nice à vélo wants new permanent installations and believes that "habits must change and for good".
Nice, lagging behind for infrastructure dedicated to cycling, could it make its revolution in this area thanks to the health crisis? This is in any case what is taking shape. Christian Estrosi explains that he wants to "learn from this unprecedented experience of confinement" to, perhaps, change gear.
So the idea is clear today: multiply the possibilities of riding on these two-wheelers rather than having too many people locked up in buses and trams from the start of deconfinement. The blue bikes will be free for a limited period and "for a month, we will test the ban on driving on certain axes to promote cycling and avoid confinement in public transport," announced the mayor.
Government aid
The philosophy is followed by other municipalities and the government has already announced that it will release 20 million euros for "that the bicycle is the little queen of deconfinement", dixit the Minister of Ecological Transition Elisabeth Thick headed.
In particular, a lump sum of 50 euros will be awarded to people who want to repair their two-wheelers and funds will be allocated to communities that prepare temporary bicycle paths. As Nice wants to put it in place.
"Habits must change and for good"
The 65 kilometers of dedicated cycle paths, which exist today in the capital of the French Riviera, would be doubled during this experiment. This is good news for Nice à Vélo, which on April 22 demanded "the urgent opening of new cycle paths to allow travel while respecting physical distance".
Our file on the Covid-19
"It remains to be seen where they will be positioned and under what security conditions," said Muriel Giraud, the president of the association. "And above all, what is needed is that these new facilities be sustainable," she insists. The crisis may at least have the merit of making us understand that habits must change and for good. In Germany, this device was put in place even during confinement. "
Requests on city center axes
So which axes will be concerned? The mayor should present the precise lines of his plan at the beginning of next week, said one in town hall. In the meantime, consultations have started with users. Nice-Matin launched a survey and Nice à vélo interviewed its members on its website and Facebook page.
"The first requests are concentrated on downtown axes, notably Boulevard Gambetta," notes Muriel Giraud. A good option would also be to reserve, on the north-south axis, rue Diderot and avenue Villermont, parallel to avenue Malausséna and to the circulation of line 1 of the tram ”. Tramway that the town hall also intends to adapt to deconfinement. The city promises "a disinfection of the oars at each terminus" and "hydroalcoholic gel dispensers" installed in the stations.
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- Covid 19
- Deconfinement
- Transport
- Nice
- Coronavirus
- Confinement
- Bike