Will the second tram line ever reach La Riche? This is the question that the inhabitants ask themselves, they were around 400 this Thursday, May 5 at the public meeting held in the town hall by Mayor Wilfried Schwartz. The opportunity for the city councilor to make an update on the tram project, for which he did not hesitate to scratch in particular the mayor of Tours Emmanuel Denis, whose recent reluctance to pass the route by the boulevard Béranger caused quite a stir. “A deep divergence between the mayor of Tours and us” recognizes Wilfried Schwartz, who wanted to reassure his constituents, assuring them that the public inquiry was the next important step and that we had to push for it to take place.
The long presentation of the mayor on the tram project pleased this resident of La Riche who wanted to remain anonymous. If she is still not 100 percent sure that the project will be done, the attitude of the chosen one pleases her. “He’s not going to drop like that. We also have to be behind. If we want it, we have to fight hard!” The Unis pour le tram collective also proposed a petition to be signed by the inhabitants, so that the public inquiry takes place, within a year, and that it not be interfered with by studies on the roots of the plane trees on boulevard Béranger.
See the cacophony?
Wilfried Schwartz did not rule out changes to the project, even a modified route that would pass by the boulevard Jean Royer rather than Boulevard Béranger. He mentions the loans contracted, the financing found, the advantage of the tram compared to a bus with a high level of service. “I don’t see how one man, on a whim, can question everything, he declares. The little sister (La Riche, editor’s note) wants as much as the big one (Tours, editor’s note) (…) we will find these solutions, together. A political grub, denounces a man at the end of the meeting. “Schwartz says certain things, Denis walks completely backwards. See the cacophony?“
The future expropriated deplore a lack of transparency
Wilfried Schwartz was able to develop his argument calmly, with only a few exclamations to report. On the part, in particular, of the collective of the expropriated, who reproach the town hall as well as the metropolis for a lack of transparency and information on the subject. “I received only two letters telling me that I was going to be expropriated. Then radio silence for a year. I would like to know where it is, especially given the information we have, that the trip could be canceled” explains Frédéric, who lives rue de la mairie, where some owners have already sold their property. This angers Pierre, also a resident and future expropriated. He finds the purchase proposals derisory.
It is a scandal!
“We were offered 132,000 euros, the current price is 190,000 euros for a T3. We don’t even have the possibility of considering rehousing, it’s a scandal! And we don’t care, we fire people anyhow in this town.” Some situations are sometimes difficult, concede the mayor of La Riche as well as his first deputy, questioned by France Bleu Touraine. But Filipe Ferreira-Pousos ensures that all owners are, on the contrary, well supported. “There are always humanly difficult moments to manage. But once the discussion gets going, people are generally happy.”