Montpellier makes its transport revolution on Monday

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On social networks, the mayor of Montpellier Michaël Delafosse (PS) compared the changes to come, to the closure to cars of the Place de la Comédie or the Boulevard du Jeu de Paume. The upcoming arrival of tram line 5 in Montpellier foreshadows huge upheavals in the city center from Monday 27 June. Closure of the Comédie tunnel to traffic, just like the avenue Clémenceau, many changes in the direction of traffic: the hyper-city center will undergo a revolution.

End of through traffic. The avowed objective of this work? Put an end to the era of the queen car in Montpellier. “This new plan obeys two logics: that of destination routes, with in particular new access to car parks in the city center, and that of bypassing for transit traffic”, summarizes Julie Frêche, vice-president of mobility at the metropolis. . “We favor local service and access to car parks, picking up the children from school or going to a local shop”.

Closing of the Comédie tunnel. To connect the west to the east of the city without using the bypasses, Montpellier residents had sometimes kept the habit of using the Comédie tunnel. Even if the traffic there had dropped a lot in recent years since the transition to a single lane from rue Saint-Denis and boulevard Clémenceau. And especially since the boulevard du Jeu de Paume was closed to cars. But from June 27, the Comédie tunnel will only allow access to the car park of the same name.

Focus on traffic in downtown Montpellier from June 27, 2022. – Montpellier 3M

Avenue Clémenceau closed. Work on the tramway begins on Monday. Avenue Clémenceau will be closed and traders will receive compensation from the city. To access the Gambetta car park, you will have to take Boulevard Renouvier, from Place du 8 mai 1945, while the direction of traffic will be reversed on Boulevard de Strasbourg in particular.

Antigone, the Fine Arts… Rue Léon Blum will be closed from this summer. And the municipality plans to then tackle Place Carnot and the Beaux-Arts. “The idea behind this new traffic plan is to widen the city centre,” warns Michaël Delafosse. And to promote soft mobility with access to trams, bustrams, bicycles with dedicated cycle paths and pedestrians.

Access to car parks in Montpellier city center from June 27, 2022
Access to car parks in Montpellier city center from June 27, 2022 – Montpellier 3M

Traders worried. Between 200 and 300 people marched on Monday from Peyrou to the Comédie, to denounce these changes, at the call of the association “Vivre Montpellier Métropole”. Its members, including many merchants, are worried about a drop in their turnover and store traffic if customers from the municipalities of the metropolis struggle to access the city center, as they fear.

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