Thierry Albertini: "VINCI Autoroutes is listening to local elected officials"
Since the 2015 widening project began, VINCI Autoroutes has maintained excellent relations with elected officials of the cities affected by the works.
For Salvador Nunez, operational director, it was even obvious: "On my arrival, I asked to meet Hubert Falco, mayor of Toulon and president of TPM, to present the project to him. I was received in the presence of the director of services of the City and the Metropolis, and I myself was accompanied by the Director General of ESCOTA."
NUMEROUS MEETINGS WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS
Subsequently, the head of the A57 met with the heads of the technical services of La Garde and La Valette-du-Var and Yannick Chenevard, who was monitoring the progress of the work for the city of Toulon. "We worked with local authority officials, which was very effective. We met once a month and as often as necessary. We held numerous meetings with the prefecture of Var and gathered feedback from elected officials. And we did everything to ensure it went as smoothly as possible." Thierry Albertini, mayor of La Valette-du-Var, confirms these remarks: "At the start of the work, we were very worried about traffic shifting into the town. We had anticipated this by removing several traffic lights and replacing them with roundabouts. Along with my elected colleagues from Toulon and La Garde, as well as the prefect, we had insisted that the heaviest works be carried out at night to limit congestion. This was heard."
EXCELLENT COLLABORATION
The mayor of La Valette continues: "I must say that I am quite satisfied with what has started in terms of greening, especially around La Bigue. It is now well stocked and large trees have been replanted. We continued our discussions with VINCI Autoroutes and the company carrying out the planting to discuss the roundabouts. There is genuinely good collaboration. This observation applies to all aspects of the project, as VINCI Autoroutes has listened to local elected officials and worked very responsively. First of all, the noise barrier walls, which are highly beneficial, as well as everything that has been done in terms of soundproofing for local residents. We are benefiting from the opening of the first widened sections before full commissioning in 2025, because fewer traffic jams mean fewer restarts and therefore less pollution!" For her part, Hélène Arnaud-Bill, mayor of La Garde, adds: "We are reaching the end of the widening works on the A57 and I must say that the overall assessment is quite positive, both technically and in terms of exchanges with the Client VINCI Autoroutes. Traffic conditions are acceptable, despite the massive infrastructure works and even if we observe a shift in traffic flow—so-called bypassing—in our municipality. Exchanges with the team from the A57 Operations Department are very good and regular, with responsive and competent contacts. We are rather pleasantly surprised given the constraints the works generated and the fears we had." "We hope that, in the long term, traffic on the A57 will become more fluid during rush hours and the infrastructure will return to its original purpose, which is to allow exchanges between the east and west of the metropolis and decongest secondary roads," concludes the mayor of La Garde.