It is now some 15 years that the territorial collectivities, along with the State, work on the project of massive work on the territory so as to open up the French Chablais. Because of the massive flux of cross-border workers, the region has rapidly seen its roads to be overloaded and the network of public transport has soon proved to be not sufficient enough.
The structures created to open up the Chablais
In 2008, a bypass road has been built so as to bypass Thonon-les-Bains. Then in 2014, it’s a separated dual way that has gone one this whole long work of opening up the Haut Chablais. This road links Annemasse to Machilly.
The same year, the actors of the private sector have played a major part in order to accelerate this necessary opening.
The current projects to open up the Chablais
The main project current worked on is a highway section between Machilly and Thonon-les-Bains, in Haute-Savoie. Public meetings have been held at the beginning of the year Thonon-les-Bains, Evian-les-Bains, Perrignier, Anthy-sur-Léman and Ville-la-Grand.
If the project, estimated at some 200 million euros, does not meet any impediments, this highway should be done by 2023. It will stretch on 16,5 km and will link the highway A40 at the South of Annemasse to Thonon-les-Bains. Three interchanges should be built at the level of Machilly, Perrignier and Anthy-sur-Léman, as the Direction régionale de l’Environnement, de l’Aménagement et du Logement of the region Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes precised.
The aims of the opening up project
At the regional level, the aim is to have better link between the Chablais and the urban area of Annemasse-Geneva and the highway A40, to reduce the time required for the drivers at the rush hours and to improve the security of the users.
Locally, this project aims at reducing the traffic on the local roads and to ameliorate the life of the inhabitants of the various villages crossed by those roads.
What is the impact on environment?
Some fears concerning the impacts of this highway project on environment and on the agriculture and the inhabited areas have been expressed during the various meetings organised at the beginning of the year. It has been asked to the builder in chief to take into account the environmental qualities of the land so as to limit the impact on the wet zones: the Marais de Brécorens, Pamphiot’s vale, or the wet zone of Les Mouilles in Perrignier.
All the difficulty resides in the balance between the fears of the inhabitants regarding the closeness of the road and the safe keeping of the environment of the so beautiful area that the Chablais is.
Solar road, soundless covering, sharing cars, building of bike’s tracks… numerous solutions have been thought of to reduce the environmental impact of the highway link between Machilly and Thonon-les-Bains.