• In order to fight against light pollution and save money, especially energy, the city of Montpellier plunges several boulevards into the dark.

  • The experiment will last six months.

    It could be prolonged and especially amplified if it turns out to be positive.

  • The 40 million motorist association considers the experience dangerous for motorists

Five towns in the metropolis (including Prades-le-Lez, photo) have done so before it.

For the past few days, Montpellier has been switching off the lights at night.

Not everywhere and still provisionally: the experiment will last six months and concerns six boulevards.

"This lighting is useless because we already have lighting called lighthouses," said Bruno Paternot, deputy mayor.

The avenues chosen are reserved for motorized vehicles and, according to the town hall, benefit from specific reflective signage.

Six hundred and fifty street lights less lit (from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.), according to the municipal team's accounts, 25,000 euros and 212,000 kWh saved per year.

“It's good for the planet and good for the wallet,” continues the deputy.

When you turn off major highways, people drive more slowly.

"

"Anti-car measures"

“Since when is seeing nothing a guarantee of safety?” Pierre Chasseray, general delegate and spokesperson for the 40 million motorists association, chokes in response.

Currently, a road safety campaign recalls the need to be particularly vigilant because night falls earlier.

And in Montpellier, the lights are turned off.

This is not ecology, these are anti-car measures.

"

The elected officials of Montpellier give themselves six months to judge whether the experience will be conclusive.

And if this is the case, it could be extended to certain peripheral districts.

"Exploratory walks have been set up with the police services to take stock of the situation in each street", continues Bruno Paternot.

A dark grid to preserve biodiversity

"We must not fall into the extreme, warns Jacques Mestre, president of the UMIH 34 (Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry).

People want to walk around safely.

If there is no light, it will be necessary to prove to me that the safety is guaranteed.

»Other solutions are being studied, such as reducing the intensity of the light or playing with its colors.

The city of Montpellier also wishes to work for the protection of nocturnal fauna.

It has joined forces with INRAE ​​(National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and the Environment), “to first study light pollution in the metropolis (…) and determine areas of biodiversity to be preserved by means of a black screen ”.

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  • Languedoc-Roussillon

  • Car

  • Montpellier

  • Lights

  • Planet

  • Pollution