With the bustram construction site in Montpellier, the traders of rue de la Vieille-Poste toast

Nathalie, Quentin and Bernard, three of the fifteen traders affected by this project. Free Midi – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Nicolas Delmas: “I have never done so many crosswords in my life…” Free Midi – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Beaucoup de clients se découragent à la vue des travaux et filent vers des secteurs commerciaux plus accorts. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Faute de clientèle, certains affichent des chiffres d’affaires en forte baisse. Et dénoncent aussi un manque de concertation entre eux, Tam et la Métropole.

"Tam and the Metropole have had meetings, they are very nice, there is a toll-free number to call but, on the other hand, there’is nothing… When we ask for an opening, we are told that it is not possible When we asked for a schedule of work, we were told that we would have one, a priori at the beginning of May&quot ;, let go Nathalie, Bernard and Quentin together. One runs a brasserie, the second a restaurant, the third a hair salon.

All are part of the Union of Local Professionals (UPP). A collective created by the traders and health professionals of rue de La Vieille-Poste with the launch of the construction site of the future bustram line (this was last December) whose commissioning is expected from now on. rsquo;here a little year now.

In the meantime, everyone is suffering, to varying degrees it is true, from the drop in traffic and therefore, customers who, not so long ago, stopped in the side alley serving said businesses. Who to go to the tobacco shop, who to go to the grocery store, who to get their hair done, who to pick up medicine…

Weary, for three months now, "there is a fence for more than three hundred meters. To be able to access our businesses, you have to take a big turn around the back or go through the Taxes and make an even bigger detour", notes Bernard Bianchetto.&nbsp ;Result: "It's complicated, so people don't come by car anymore".

Julie Frêche: “A business advisor to study each case”

"We are not minimizing constraints during this work period. We know that this period is complicated but we have always responded. A business advisor is there to study each particular case. We can provide tax and banking support".

And the elected metropolitan official in charge of mobility reminded, on the subject of parking, "that the adjacent streets are always free". Then to underline that, as for tram line 5, the Metropolis has set up mediators to communicate with the inhabitants of the different sectors concerned.

Julie Frêche also confirms that the progress of the construction site will allow traffic to shift to the side of the shops, "perhaps ;by the end of April". And in the Verchant sector, this shift should take place in July.

This one-way traffic situation is expected to continue until the end of this year. As for the commissioning of this first tram bus line, it is expected during the first quarter of 2025, following a series of online tests.< /p>

"People don't bother figuring out how to get here, they don't come anymore"

Then Nathalie Bardot added: "We had asked for free parking during the work. We were told that this was not possible. Last Monday, between 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., I had six people".

"People don't bother to know how to come, they don't come anymore", says Quentin Striebig , the Figaro of the artery.

There are still diehards left. Evidence: "Last week, people climbed over the barriers", he says. "One’tore his jeans and cut open one of his hands while climbing", testifies Nathalie Bardot.  Exceptions according to their statements. Bernard Bianchetto confirms: "I have customers who say they only come once a week because of the hassle of the work, d’ others not at all".

The arrival of the bustram divides

Current problem, the project must be completed within about ten months. After ? The arrival of the bustram divides among traders. Quentin Striebig thinks "that this won't change anything". When Bernard Bianchetto sees the arrival of this new public transport offer "a plus". The reason ? "People who are one or two stops away will say to themselves: “Hey, there are shops, I'm going to go and try& ;rdquo;. And if they are happy, they will come back", he prophesies.

"Since the start of the work, I have never
made as many crosswords in my life"

In fact, on the cash register side, technical unemployment lurks. No wonder with sales figures at half mast, oscillating from minus fifteen percent to minus twenty, or even stagnation in the best case scenario. "I'm surviving, I'm trying to see from day to day. In January, I didn't pay myself a salary", continues Quentin Striebig. "In the afternoons, we have the impression that it’s Sunday", engages Nathalie Bardot.

A few dozen meters away, at Nicolas Delmas, a good tobacconist, the observation is again clear. "People don't pass by anymore.&nbsp ;I still have my base of customers in the neighborhood. Fortunately that’there is that otherwise… I have been unable to get by without a salary since December when I made minus 21%, then minus 35% in January, minus 30 in February. And for March, we're going for minus thirty-five… Since the start of the work, I have never made so many crosswords in my life…hellip; At my house, afternoons look like August… hellip; I will start a compensation procedure. The Metropolis must do something. The gas station in La Pompignane has closed. It would surprise me if Total decided it like that…"

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