The terminus of line 2 of the trambus will be installed near the Golf du Makila in Bassussarry by the end of 2024. The speed limit on the two dual carriageways between Bayonne and Ustaritz, the RD 932, will be lowered from 110 to 70 km/h to allow the creation of dedicated bus lanes. The objective is to reduce traffic on the busiest entrance to the Bayonne conurbation.
Reduce traffic on the busiest entrance to Bayonne
After long months of questioning and procrastination, the arbitrations were finally taken, announced the president of the Basque Country conurbation, Jean-René Etchegaray, during his back-to-school conference this Wednesday, February 9. Since its commissioning in April 2021, the second line of the trambus stops, to the south, in front of the Marracq college in Bayonne. But since the beginning of the project, it is planned to extend it to the entrance of the agglomeration. The problem was to decide where, between the Maignon sector, near the A63 motorway slip road, and Bassussary, near the RD 932, the busiest road to access Anglet and Bayonne, with 26,700 vehicles per day on average.
Line 2 of the Trambus will finally go to the Golf du Makila roundabout, opposite the Bassussary business park. One relay parking will be developed there. It will be free for subscribers to “txik txak”, the transport network of the Basque country conurbation. Travelers can also continue the journey by bus to Espelette, via Ustaritz, Larressore and Cambo-les-Bains, thanks to the line 14 connection.
The trambus in its own lane on two dual carriageways
And to make this bus journey more attractive than the car, the T2 will benefit from a dedicated lane, a reserved lane, between the Compagnet roundabout and the Makila roundabout. To do this, while maintaining two lanes for other vehicles in both directions, the mobility union for the Basque Country conurbation will ask the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departmental council, the decision-maker in the matter, tolowering of the speed limit on this portion of the RD 932 from 110 to 70 km/h.
Indeed, with a limit of 110 km/h, the regulations make the presence of hard shoulders (BAU) mandatory and provide for wider traffic lanes. Lowering the speed by 40 km/h will make it possible to eliminate the BAU and reduce the lanes. It is also necessary for secure bus traffic.
This extension of almost 5 kilometers of line 2, partly in its own lane, should be completed by the end of 2024 according to the timetable of the mobility union, the details of which have not been specified.