Anger is rising among the inhabitants of northern Albi (between Albi and Lescure-d’Albigeois), because of the traffic in the area. Sector regularly congested, in particular on the RN 88. So, in an attempt to make traffic more fluid, work started in the spring of 2021. A stage meeting also took place this Wednesday evening in Lescure-d’Albigeois.
Hundreds of people attended. But a large majority came out frankly disappointed. According to them, what has been presented to them will not solve the congestion problem.
To set the scene, in the north of Albi, there is a busy commercial area. And to get out, motorists currently have no choice but to take the RN 88, which is also very busy.
The objective of the work is therefore to allow vehicles to pass elsewhere. Except that elsewhere, it’s in front of Yohan’s house and business, stuck with his trucks: “luckily I’m an employee, because my activity has been dormant for a year”, he blurts out, worried. And for good reason, the new developments should, in the long term, inflate the traffic in its district. This is the reason why he plans, with his wife, to move : “We’ve been here for 23 years, I think that in the end we will sell, or we will be sold. Me, I make up my mind, Madame, much less.”
An insistent request for diversion
Carole, a neighbor, does not want to move either, even if she fears an increase in accidents: “Especially since there, my son had an accident, avenue Albert Thomas.
“Yes, living there is getting dangerous.” — Carole, a resident
It was noon, he was leaving for high school and a car cut him off. We’ve just been released from the hospital. So, yes, living there is getting dangerous.” To drastically reduce traffic in Albi, the solution would be, for a good part of the inhabitants, to divert the RN 88 which today crosses the city. “The local elected officials must agree once and for all,” tackles Jean-Claude.
In the meantime, due to a lack of political consensus, the work campaign led by Dir Sud-Ouest must last until early summer 2023.