The atmosphere was festive. A thousand people gathered on Saturday, May 6, in the agglomeration of Rouen to denounce the project to bypass the Norman city from the east. The event is organized in Léry-Poses, in Eure, by Les Uprisings of the Earth, whose government is considering dissolving, and by the local associations Non à l'autoroute (NALA), Alternatiba-Rouen and Greenhouse effect yourself.
In a family atmosphere, with a picnic in the grass in the middle of stands and marquees, many local and national elected officials were present to oppose this project which aims to relieve congestion in the Normandy conurbation. "It's not a project you find out about. Environmentalists were the first to fight against it. The presence of many demonstrators today demonstrates that we are winning the cultural battle, ”welcomed the boss of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, Marine Tondelier, before participating in the rally.
An "environmentally harmful project"
A few meters from her, the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol (Socialist Party), also reiterated his criticisms. “We cannot continue with the political options of forty years ago. You have to put the money on the train and give up this toll road. The [chambre de commerce et d'industrie] de Rouen, the port of Rouen are in the wrong fight, he said, adding: The assumptions on which the public inquiry was conducted are obsolete, in particular on the cost of the carbon which has increased sharply in a few years. »
According to Thibault Cardon, spokesperson for the Non A133-A134 collective, “the idea is to intervene well in advance of the start of work to be as efficient as possible and prevent the start of this project that is harmful to the environment. The first preparatory works are announced for 2025”. This 41.5 kilometer toll motorway project should link the A28 to the north to the A13 to the south, bypassing the Rouen conurbation to the east.
"Rouen remains the only French metropolis of this size without a road bypass", estimated the prefecture on its website in 2021. "This results in a significant flow of heavy goods vehicles in the agglomeration", according to a letter from the prefect sent in January 2021 to communities. The cost of the project is estimated at nearly one billion euros excluding taxes, according to Guillaume Grima, former elected ecologist in Rouen and one of the leaders of Greenhouse effect yourself.
