They haven’t had a sidewalk for 16 years. At the northern entrance to L’Estaque, at the bottom of the Riaux, in the 16th arrondissement of Marseille, two portions about twenty meters long are inaccessible. Concrete blocks have blocked the passage since 2005. It was necessary to prevent access to the sidewalks because of a landslide. Nothing has changed since.
I’m still very scared because I don’t see everything happening
Thirty local residents demonstrated on what remains of their sidewalk this Saturday. Most of them live in Les Riaux and they walk to the center of L’Estaque. Problem : they have to cross the D568 on a bend. “I’m always very scared because I don’t see everything happening one way or the other. It’s good or bad surprise”, explains Dominique, a retiree.
So far, there has been no accident at this location. But some whisper that it would take a drama to make things happen. Christian has all the same almost got run over : “I was crossing and a car slammed into me. I had to pick up the pace, but it slipped past me.”
Sidewalks and a traffic light
It is dangerous for the elderly, but also for the children. Lise, a childminder, takes care of three little ones, two of them in strollers. She hardly comes here for walks, despite the proximity to the beaches. “We can wait four to five minutes [au passage piétons] because there is a lot of traffic, the cars do not necessarily stop and they go fast “, emphasizes Lise.
A situation “terrible'” and “very dangerous”, according to Francis Minniti, the president of the neighborhood interest committee (CIQ) of Estaque-Riaux. Residents want to find their sidewalk. They also ask the installation of a traffic light at the bottom of the Antoine Castejon climb, near the bus stop, to force cars to let pedestrians pass.
The CIQ wrote a letter to the various local authorities, to the town hall and to the deputies on December 6. There remains, for the moment, without answer.