“We are the new Avenue Dubout”: Alain Makinson, at the head of the 4 boulevards, wants to renew dialogue with Montpellier town hall

Alain Makinson, professor of medicine and president of the 4 boulevards association. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

Alain Makinson replaced Dalya Iung at the head of the 4 boulevards association. He still hopes to find common ground with the municipality to modify the traffic plan and avoid the postponement of automobile traffic on boulevards Berthelot, Vieussens, Rabelais and d‘Orient after the closure of the ;#39;avenue Albert-Dubout. 

Why create an association since the 4 boulevards collective already exists ?

The association was created a year ago. We renewed the office and the presidency. Faced with the lack of dialogue, we found it useful to change people to move things forward differently. We are convinced that the stoppage of all discussion comes from the mayor. We are an association to represent, finance and vote on important decisions, particularly legal ones. And we are a collective with other members for actions. 

How many members ?

There are around 1,500 owners on the 4 boulevards, our mailing list exceeds 500 people. The association has around sixty contributors. Our problem concerns a small number of inhabitants in proportion to Montpellier, but the questioning goes beyond our neighborhood. 

You have been elected president, what will that change ? 

I wanted to introduce myself because I was part of the mayor's entourage. I am a professor of medicine in ifectiology. I have been thanked several times by the mayor for my involvement in Covid. I am an associate researcher in infectious diseases at the IRD, I am well aware of epidemiology and analysis, it is very close to trafficking in fact . I am president of Corevie Occitanie and coordinator of Montpellier without AIDS. I have a spirit of dialogue and compromise, that's why I was chosen since dialogue doesn't work. 

Your demands on the traffic plan, implemented in 2022, remain unchanged ? 

We are still suffering and we are still looking for solutions to drastically reduce inter-district traffic. The four boulevards have clearly replaced avenue Albert-Dubout since its closure. We are the new avenue Dubout except that the residents live on old-fashioned boulevards which are 15 meters wide from facade to facade. 

What are the main consequences on your quality of life ?

We are exposed to noise. The city's measures are postponed since clearly there were technical problems. The number of cars increased from 15,000 to 17,000 per day compared to 3,000 to 4,000 in 2019. The nitrogen dioxide emitted by cars has doubled or even tripled depending on the month. This data is available on the Atmo website. Our situation has objectively worsened. We are often told that we are not the only ones in Montpellier but Avenues Mendès-France or Avenue de la Liberté are not 15 meters from facade to facade.

What alternatives do you propose today ?

Our collective is multidisciplinary, we are cyclists, pedestrians and motorists at the same time. Our proposals are each time brushed aside. We are told that this is not possible because it causes a transfer of traffic to other districts. However, the mayor did not hesitate to close Albert-Dubout even though it was not in his program, he did not hesitate to close rue Fabrèges. Our objective is to develop a livable urban boulevard for us: with a reduction in traffic, one-way, why not a double cycle path. 

One way on Berthelot, Vieussens, Rabelais and d‘Orient ?

Yes, in the upward or downward direction, with a reopening of Dubout in the other direction. This is a political decision to make. What we want is a peaceful neighborhood. With this solution, we still make concessions. This solution seems logical to us local residents but also to some of the elected representatives of the majority, the opposition and the scientific intermediaries whom we have brought in to try to find an amicable solution. nbsp;

Have you obtained the results of the expertise ordered by the administrative court ? 

No because the procedure is long. There was a referral to the court for an urgent summary to try to suspend the orders. There is no official traffic plan, these are temporary orders for the moment. The judge considered that he was not capable of judging the emergency situation. But the substantive summary continues. We are delighted that two experts (noise and pollution) have been appointed. This will objectify the situation and push the town hall to make concessions. We are in total deafness and there is no shared objective. It is not because we are welcomed into a meeting that there is a dialogue. Only scoops are offered. 

That is ?

For example, putting up signs prohibiting 7.5 tonnes from circulating but there are multiple exemptions. There are no penalties for passing trucks. That didn't change anything. Another measure: say that they are going to call Waze or TomTom to tell them not to come to our house. They promised to remove a plateau on Boulevard Rabelais. It makes noise and makes houses vibrate from 4 a.m. It keeps people from sleeping. The promise to remove it was not kept. 

You publish photos of accidents on social networks. Do you have numbers ? 

June 2022 is the closure of Albert-Dubout, August 2022 is the two-way operation of the 4 boulevards. We list the facts before and after this date. Supporting photos taken by local residents, we have recorded 42 accidents since August 2022. This is an underestimate because we do not have professionals posted. These are pedestrians, scooters and bicycles who are involved in accidents with cars. We have more than 1,500 bikes passing through our house! The other element is that we have 200 buses per day on Boulevard Berthelot, there were 0 before 2022. It's hell for local residents. ;

How do you plan to renew a constructive dialogue with the town hall ? 

Try to find shared goals. I'm a doctor, that's what I do in the hospital with patients. I always try to find common ground. I am a person of dialogue. We all have other things to do than go and demonstrate constantly in the Corum or elsewhere. We are apolitical even if everyone has their opinions. It seems to me that the mayor should take care of us because we are a local resident problem. This does not imply any political questioning, there are perhaps changes to be made to the traffic plan. We are not calling into question free transport or soft mobility. We are for sharing the streets between users. We always try to be respectful during our demonstrations. We don't block traffic but we slow it down, for example. If we don't do anything, we disappear. We are a problem solved. They do not see us as residents who have a legitimate cause with a total degradation of their quality of life. I do this for my health and that of my family. 

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