It will be necessary to continue to play the brake pedal to cross Beynes by car. Last October, this town of 7,500 inhabitants in the heart of Yvelines decided to test a new traffic plan removing priority from users of a portion of the D191 crossing it. A device will be maintained with all the same certain modifications.
The objective announced by the town hall was to reduce the speed on this major axis but also to dissuade certain motorists from taking this route in favor of cross roads. A way to give back to the village “a bit of its tranquility”.
Concretely, in the fall, it was a question of putting a stop sign at each intersection on rue de la République. Four in total on the targeted portion for an accordion advance. As soon as it was put in place, the measure had then provoked strong reactions, both on the asphalt and on social networks.
Motorists complain, but residents applaud
Feedback not necessarily positive, many motorists questioned the following days and weeks railing against traffic jams and even judging, for some, these famous stops “dangerous”. Grievances that the mayor expected: “as soon as we change habits, we know that we make people unhappy”, he judges.
A few weeks later, an online consultation was launched by the town hall to gather the opinions of residents and users of the main road in Beynes. A total of 635 people took part. “The results show that 70% of those who responded believe that this road must be made safe”, explains the mayor (SE) Yves Revel. The figure even climbs to 73.9% for the inhabitants of the municipality alone. A sufficient score in the eyes of the municipal team to justify its action.
Planned readjustments… and the desired 30 km/h
But all the stops installed in the fall will not be kept. “We are going to readjust according to what we have seen”, explains the mayor who plans to keep two compulsory stops, to replace a third with a traffic light and the last with a simple priority. “We realize that there may not be as much traffic as we had envisaged, continues the elected official. We see that people have already changed their habits with slightly longer rush hours. »
A study conducted by a firm specializing in road development must be conducted to validate the choices of the town hall. Which does not intend to stop there and provides for the generalization of 30 km / h throughout the “heart of the village” part. “Many local residents are asking for it,” assures Yves Revel.
If this story of stops made “more noise than we expected”, recognizes the mayor of Beynes, it also, according to him, had the merit of pointing the finger at the problem of intensive traffic in villages like ours”. The idea could even make children, Yves Revel suggesting that certain municipalities “would look with interest at what we have done here”.