“There were not only cars, there were trucks, motorhomes, caravans…” recalls a resident of Valence interviewed by BFMTV.
Today, the small road on the Lautagne plateau, often recommended by Waze (or by Google Maps) in case of congestion on the A7 motorway, is simply blocked, prohibited to traffic with a very real barrier.
It must be said that traffic on this rural road, sometimes dirt, generated by the famous application shot up 375% two years ago, during the Ascension weekend.
And these types of roads are not suitable for these types of crowds that cause inconvenience and insecurity.
“It creates a danger,” Nicolas Daragon, mayor (LR) of Valence and vice president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, confirms to BFMTV.
Traffic lights and lies
“The end of these rural roads is in the town, there is a school where this rural road ends, buildings, houses, neighbors and we can no longer move around so we decided to close from April 1 to September 30 as soon as there is a bridge, as soon as there is a weekend that we know will generate a lot of road traffic,” he continues.
Now only local residents and employees working in the area are allowed to use this small road.
Valencia is not the only municipality that has made such a decision. In Lieusaint, in Seine-et-Marne, the mayor installed six traffic lights to “discourage” motorists diverted by Waze.
In Bègles, “we have traffic delays on streets that are not at all adequate, so we worked to review the traffic plans, the one-way routes, which allowed us to have 16% fewer cars, which represents 3,000 vehicles per day”. , explains Pierre Ouallet, deputy mayor and delegate for the ecological transition. Changes that Waze takes into account after a few days.
Sometimes, it’s exasperated neighbors who try to trick Waze by reporting police checkpoints or imaginary traffic jams so that their route is no longer recommended. But the trick usually doesn’t work for long.
Source: BFM TV
