Departmental 66, nicknamed the road to prehistory in Peyzac-le-Moustier in Périgord Noir, reopens this Wednesday, June 1 to traffic. It had been partly closed for two years, because of the risk of a landslide on a cliff. The work has just been completed, but it is neither the State nor the Departmental Council that paid for it. It was Jean-Max Touron, owner of 13 tourist sites in the Dordogne who took out the checkbook, for a sum of “nearly 100,000 euros including tax”from its own funds.
Tourists lost by their GPS and big detour for local residents
It is he who owns the troglodyte site of La Roque Saint-Christophe. 180,000 visitors per year, the fourth most visited site by tourists in the Dordogne. And the small road is one of the only ways to get there: “This closure was terrible for the thousands of tourists who use it, but also for the local residents”. To get to the bakery, 800 meters away as the crow flies, the inhabitants of Peyzac had to follow a detour of eight kilometers through small forest roads. Tourists got lost, guided by their GPS, and some gave up visiting the site. “There were several meetings, at the town hall, in the sub-prefecture in Sarlat, and at the prefecture of Périgueux”continues Jean-Max Touron. “At the last, I understood that nobody would pay and that the situation was going to rot”.
The moral of this story? help yourself, and god will help you
– Jean-Max Touron
The Departmental Council in charge of the road and the State say that it is up to the owner of the land where the cliff is to pay. He doesn’t have the means. The town hall could have bought the plot for the symbolic euro, but the small town of 200 inhabitants does not have the means to pay for the work, even with state subsidies: “We have a budget of 200,000 euros”, recalls the mayor of Peyzac, Joëlle Jouanel-Monribot. The works cost half.
“Everyone said they couldn’t afford it”
“The town hall, the prefecture, the department, everyone said that they did not have the means. So I pay for the work. 76,000 euros excluding taxes, adding VAT, we almost reach 100,000 euros”explains Jean-Max Touron. “Morality? Help yourself, and God will help you”, adds the octogenarian with a smile. The works began at the beginning of May, they have just been completed. A real relief in the town, where the mayor does not hesitate to congratulate the “patron” Jean-Max Touron. Residents are grateful: “Congratulations to him, because without him, it would have remained closed”annoys Jacques, a resident of the town. “It’s a departmental road, it’s up to the state and the departmental council to do something. We’re dying in the rural world, nobody notices it, nobody does anything. It’s although we have someone who has the means, but how are they going to do in the other villages of Dordogne?
The State and the department recall that they paid for the studies prior to carrying out the work to reinforce the cliff. Trucks from the departmental technical center must come this Wednesday, June 1 to remove the large concrete blocks that have been installed to block the passage on the roadway, right at the start of the summer season and the arrival of tourists.