REPORTAGE
In the Drome, the inhabitants of the small village of Echevis, in the Vercors, are angry: their commune may soon be completely isolated. Indeed, work will start at the end of September on the only road that leads to the village of 56 souls, which should make it impractical for many months. Every day, the inhabitants will have to make a detour of about fifty kilometers to go in the valley.
The small gully road, which leads to Echevis, is a beautiful and steep mountain road, crossed by several tunnels, dug into the rock in the nineteenth century. The Departmental Council of Drôme intends to organize important security work. As a result, the road will remain closed for three months next year, as well as the next two years.
"A village of 56 inhabitants does not count"
What completely shake the dailies daily. "We have to make a detour of 55 kilometers instead of 5 kilometers, for example, our children who go to primary school at five minutes will have to travel almost an hour in the morning, and one hour in the evening to get back", is annoyed with Europe 1 Gilles, one of 56 residents. "It's the same for the 25 people who work on the other side of the small bottlenecks, it's not possible, it's unbearable!"
This work also aims to increase the height of the tunnels, to boost the tourist attendance, which is not really the taste of the municipality. "The goal of this project is to get two-story coaches for traffic, and we want little gullies to be a magical place," says municipal councilor Anita Jolliot. But so far this position has hardly been heard by the departmental authorities. "A village of 56 inhabitants, that does not count", concludes, very bitter, Anita Jolliot.