The cyclists organized a series of protests with Easter eggs on the roads of the state of France, while the mayors association warned that the local road network is “on the verge of collapse.”
On the Easter weekend, I could have seen chocolate eggs in unusual places, such as potholes on the road.
This was the result of a protest by the Motards of the Association of Bikers and Colère (angry cyclists) that placed the eggs in the potholes to attract attention to the poor state of the roads; For this action to make sense, it helps to know that in the French they are NIDS-DE-POULE or ‘nidos’ chickens.
Meanwhile, the organization that represents French mayors warned Tuesday that parts of the road network are “close to collapse” and requested a change in the financing model.
Advertisement
In France the car routes (Highways/roads) are administered by private companies, maintained by toll rates that drivers are charged for using them.
The rest of the road network is the responsibility of the national government, for large roads that are notes car routes – or local government for smaller routes.
But the Des Mires de France association says that while the National Government collects 90 percent of road revenues, they are only responsibilities to keep one percent of the network.
The rest, 65 percent of the country’s total road network, falls to local governments, many of which say they have had to delay vital repair work because they do not have the budget.
Sébastien Leclerc, mayor of the city of Normandy of Lisieux, told RMC Radio: “You have to choose according to the urgency of the situation and to the detriment of another area where there is more work to do.”
The city plans to spend € 800,000 on roads this year, but the mayor says that it would need almost double to keep the network correctly.
“I have pavements that are not in good condition, but they have to wait. Patch the potholes as temporary, but they could spend several years until we have the budget to rebuild a road correctly.”
]
