Advertisement

Pothole protests over state of French roads

Emma Pearson
Emma Pearson - emma.pearson@thelocal.com
Pothole protests over state of French roads
Potholes in the road. Illustration photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP
Add The Local as a preferred source

Bikers staged a series of Easter egg themed protests over the state of France's roads, while the association of mayors warned that the local road network is 'on the brink of collapse'.

Over the Easter weekend you might have spotted chocolate eggs in unusual places - such as nestled in potholes on the road.

This was the result of a protest by the bikers' association Motards en colère (angry bikers) who placed the eggs in the potholes to draw attention to the poor state of the roads - for this action to make sense, it helps to know that in French potholes are nids-de-poule or 'hens' nests'.

Meanwhile the organisation representing French mayors on Tuesday warned that parts of the road network are 'close to collapse' and called for a change to the funding model.

Advertisement

In France the autoroutes (motorways/highways) are run by private companies, maintained by the toll fees that drivers are charged for using them.

The rest of the road network is the responsibility of either the national government - for large roads that are not autoroutes - or local government for smaller routes.

But the Association des maires de France says that while national government collects 90 percent of road revenues, it is only responsible for maintaining one percent of the network.

The rest - 65 percent of the total road road network of the country - falls to local governments, many of whom say they have had to delay vital repair work because they do not have the budget.

Sébastien Leclerc, mayor of the Normandy town of Lisieux, told RMC radio: "You have to choose according to the urgency of the situation, and often to the detriment of another area where there's more work to be done.

The town plans to spend €800,000 on roads this year - but the mayor says that it would take almost twice as much to maintain the network properly.

"I've got pavements that aren't in good condition, but they will have to wait. We patch potholes as a temporary measure but it might be several years until we have the budget to redo a road properly."

More

Comments (2)

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at news@thelocal.fr.
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

All comments 2
Sort by
Pam Ablon-sur-Seine, FR
I support, strongly, the mayors' position. In our town, the roads and pavement are derelict. The mayor says, apologetically, every year, that there's no money to resurface them. The cost is not only to our vehicles and our shoes, but all the events that used to come through our main roads: Tour de France practice days, emergency services parades, vintage car rallies, semi-pro cycle races and amateur races have all moved to the towns that have well-maintained main roads. These also tend to have smooth pavements that are safe for one and all. Our pavements have become holes full of weeds, shrubbery and insect nests, so that we choose to walk on the poor road surfaces, rather than the pavements. Central government needs to release funds, for these repairs.
Susannah.
Would there be a penalty for filling in a pothole in the minor country road outside my house ? With gravel and / or cement ? It's getting deeper by the day and I'm worried about my suspension.

See Also