Feu vert pour la construction du Bip dans le Val-d’Oise
Mardi 29 mai, le Conseil d’État a rendu un arrêté favorable à la poursuite de la portion Est de l’Avenue du Parisis. Le Département se réjouit, les associations se mobilisent.
Victory for the Val-d’Oise Department and a blow to residents’ associations : the Avenue du Parisis, (formerly Boulevard intercommunal du Parisis (Bip), eastern section, should see the light of day.
A decision that leans in favor of the realization of this project, which has been so contested for several years.
Urban motorway
The urban motorway program which links the A15 to the A1, along a La Défense-Roissy axis, includes several planned sections.
The Council of State issued a ruling on Tuesday, May 29, concerning this eastern part of the project, while the western Soisy-Groslay section is still in the study phase.
The project was halted after reservations were raised regarding the Bip’s funding. This is one of the reasons that led the Council of State to overturn the judgment of the Versailles Court of Appeal.
“The economic and social evaluation of the financing conditions of the project, […] by the Department of Val-d’Oise entirely from its own funds […] would be likely to regularize the shortcomings affecting the study,” the body specifies. From now on, time is running out for the community.
This regularization measure must be taken within twelve months.
– The Council of State
After these twelve months, “the Prefect will then have to decide on the public utility of the project so that the Council of State can then rule on the merits,” the Department specifies.
The Council of State will then rule on the conformity of the declaration of public utility (Dup).
The work can then begin without any problems.
“The Val-d’Oise Department welcomes the decision of the Council of State [and] notes [that it] does not contest either the impact study of the project or its compliance with the master plan of the Île-de-France Region.”
The Department will finance this construction alone.
A cost of several hundred million euros is announced.
“We expected it,” regrets Vincent Gayrard, a member of the Friends of the Earth collective, which initiated the legal action.
A disappointed opposition
“We have already gained nine years” on the construction of the Bip.
“We really can’t be happy about that.”
This defeat , however, does not discourage the opponents.
A majority of elected officials are now against the
project, in addition to associations and local
residents. The Department cannot ignore this.
— Vincent Gayrard, member of the Friends of the Earth collective
Vincent Gayrard hopes “that a new project, in line with the times, will emerge in its place.”
“We will not give up,” chants the opponent, as another project follows the same path.
The future metro line 19 overlaps with the existing routes on the maps.
“If the Departmental Council can justify abandoning the Bip by the route of a metro and a greenway, why not?” concludes Vincent Gayrard.
The neighbors of Bip, between regret and hope
The mood was as gloomy as the weather, but they showed up.
Opponents of the Avenue du Parisis project gathered on June 1st and 2nd for their traditional Bip Neighbours’ Day .
With the aim of remobilizing and continuing to make their voices heard, despite the decision of the Council of State on May 29 (read above).
A “insane” project
For its opponents, this pre-war project has been revived without taking into account what has changed since.
Pierre Sassier, a retired doctor and author of an opinion piece on aircraft noise published in Le Monde last year, expresses great anger:
I think this project is completely insane; I even
wonder if those who conceived it are in their right minds!
– Pierre Sassier
For him, the objective of the Bip is economic:
“This will attract hundreds of trucks that will pass in both directions, linking Gennevilliers to Roissy, to the detriment of the health and well-being of the population.”
A health concern shared by the other participants, including several families with young children.
The Bip would pass near around thirty schools, which is worrying for the health of students.
According to the group, the problem with this new decision stems from the fact that the administrative court only ruled on budgetary issues, without taking into account the ecological and health impacts of the project.
However, according to Pierre Sassier, the Council of State should take this into account:
“He has already issued decisions based on Article 1 of the Charter of the Environment (a text with constitutional value, editor’s note). It states that everyone has the right to live in a balanced and healthy environment.”
He added: “The population that opposes it should be taken into account if its health is impacted.”
Hope remains despite everything
Is the battle therefore lost?
For the collective, not yet.
This decision doesn’t finalize anything.
We still have twelve months to react.
– Living Without Bip Collective
During these few months, the group plans to organize new mobilizations .
Another option under consideration: to relaunch surveys among the population, as had been done a few years ago.
“Unfortunately, they have no legal value . Ideally, we would conduct an official survey through an institute, but that’s expensive, we certainly won’t be able to afford it.”
In any case, those opposed to the project want to continue to make their voices heard.
According to the doctor, “many areas will be even more damaged by the Bip; we absolutely must oppose it. They are making eastern Val-d’Oise completely uninhabitable.”
