1. Home
  2. curtain
  3. Closure of the Bastia tunnel: so far, everything is fine ...

Closure of the Bastia tunnel: so far, everything is fine ...

After a rather calm weekend, the first test was this Monday.But reasonable Bastiais and February holidays that fall in time limited the damage.To the point that the city is calmer than usual.

"It looks like a Sunday afternoon.But a Sunday afternoon which would also be a public holiday! ", Acks up Armand, delivery man, while he slips a devil in his van.

It is 8:40 am this Monday, and around him, rue César Campinchi, it's flat calm."I had time to climb the package in the floors, and not a horn.When I got back down, there was not a car behind me ".

Traffic, in downtown Bastia, is more than fluid.In some secondary streets, it is even downright non -existent.The enormous traffic jams, feared by the inhabitants, are not there.

"We drive better than usual"

It is on the main axis, by Boulevard Paoli, that motorists must sometimes wait, but it is rarely more than a minute or two, when a semi-trailer meets a colleague or a bus.But a large part of them arrived early this morning, in accordance with the agreements between the town hall, the carriers' union and the sea companies.

Again, do not panic, barely slowdowns, when the trucks had to cross the narrowest boulevard Auguste Gaudin.But municipal police were on site to avoid complicated situations.

A little more than an hour later, at rush hour, at the southern entrance to Bastia, where all motorists who live Borgo, Biguglia or Lucciana are pouring in, and work in Bastia, nothing insurmountable either.

Don't say it too much on TV, otherwise everyone will do the same and it's going to be panic!

Fermeture du tunnel de Bastia : jusqu'ici, tout va bien...

"We drive better than a normal Monday," said Hervé, who lives in Lancone and works in Toga."I can't televail, and I admit that I didn't want to take the train.I thought I was going to bite my fingers, but I did well."While we are about to hit the road, Hervé challenges us:" Don't say it too much on TV, otherwise everyone will do the same and it's going to be panic! "

Fango - Casamozza in 30 minutes

You might as well go see by ourselves.9:12 am, Bastia station.We head for Casamozza station by car, by the city center.The goal, to see how long we travel this journey, which crystallizes a good part of the concerns of the public authorities and motorists.

On the boulevard, a handful of municipal agents chat on a sidewalk.Only a few curtains are lifted.Most stores have not yet opened their doors.Fitted schedules are set up, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., continuously.But it is not the reason for calm that reigns, as the continuation will confirm.

We follow the citadel after a few minutes, and the avenue de la Liberation does not present more obstacles.The roundabout facing the fire station, where all those who, on the seafront road found, found closed tunnel, was not more frequented.

Arrived on 4 lanes, at the height of the cemetery, traffic is always as calm, in the direction of the exit of the city, as in the direction of the entrance, more passing at this time.To the point of arousing a few amazed pounds in passers -by.

The journey will not know more interruptions to Casamozza.When you park in the station car park, the dashboard clock indicates 9:46 am.34 minutes to reach the two stations, by car, on weekdays...

Empty shuttles

The news, apparently, has not arrived to Casamozza.Here, the parking lot is full, as well as the small plot open for the occasion.Julien, 47, puts on his costume jacket and grabs his case attaché to the rear seat.He comes from Balagne and he has a professional meeting at 2 p.m. a few steps from the Jeanne d'Arc high school.

"I wanted to take as much margin as possible.The meeting is not very close to the station, but I think there is a bus that passes around.I never took it, and I know they changed the lines...So I preferred to be careful.I will have lunch in town, too bad ".

A train is about to leave the quay for Bastia.Inside, around twenty passengers."It's not madness, but it's more people than a usual Monday during the February holidays, no doubt," said a CFC employee, who multiplied rotations.

On the other hand, on the side of the Arinella car park, it is the flat calm.A shuttle system has been set up to reach the city center.To avoid engorging the city center, motorists from outside can leave their vehicle here, and go there with one of the shuttles that leave the parking lot every quarter of an hour between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m..

But unlike those who took the train, they had time to realize, on the way, that traffic was less worse than expected, and the vast majority tried its luck without creating panic.

Follow instructions

The bet of the public authorities to begin the site of the tunnel at the same time as the February holidays, traditionally very calm, could be a winner.But beyond vacationers and vacationers who have set sail for the snowy slopes, we can assume that the absence of large traffic jams also comes from the awareness of the inhabitants of the region, who have apparently managed toReduce the superfluous trips as much as possible.For today at least.

It remains to be seen whether this discipline will be confirmed over time, or if the news of a less congestioned circulation than expected will not reduce all this good will to nothing.The next few days are expected to provide a response.