On the chimney of the office of the mayor of Rouen sits a bust of Corneille, the child of the country. In a formula that has become famous, the playwright recalled that it was not glorious to win without danger. In the absence of inspiration, it is undoubtedly an encouragement for the socialist Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, he who has embarked on a perilous political adventure by implementing a “low emission zone” in the Rouen metropolis, that he presides.
The ZFE was launched there on 1er September in application of the “mobility” law of 2019, in order to fight against air pollution. A perimeter has been defined within which the most polluting vehicles will be gradually banned. Mr. Mayer-Rossignol decided not to hang around. Cars with a Crit’Air 5 sticker (the most polluting) and Crit’Air 4 are already prohibited, while the deadline set by law is 2023 and 2024 respectively. “The worse the air quality, the faster you need to act”justifies the one who is also president of the metropolis.
“The challenge is to avoid having to ban the Crit’Air 3”, explains Théo Perez, unlabeled mayor of Bois-Guillaume. The young elected official decided to involve his municipality, which adjoins Rouen, in the ZFE, for health reasons: “We are suffocating in our metropolises. I don’t see how I could have said no to such a measure in 2022. » And, he underlines, if the “4” and “5” represent less than 10% of the car fleet in the metropolis, the Crit’Air 3, it is 22%. Their possible ban by 2025 would be ” brutal “judge Mr. Perez, already feeling a little worried.
He wants this 85-year-old lady as proof. “She still has an R5 [un modèle Renault des années 1980] and only takes her car once a week to put flowers on her husband’s gravesays Mr. Perez. She takes the opportunity to do her shopping. She said to me: “Am I going to be able to continue?” » Sure, “you need flexibility”, considers the chosen one. The president of the metropolis has also planned “a teaching period” until March 2023 and some exceptions (for people with disabilities or motorcycles).
“The calendar is not tenable”
But, very quickly, many mayors of the metropolis considered that their counterpart in Rouen was confusing speed with haste. David Lamiray, elected in Maromme, a popular town in the Cailly valley, 7 kilometers from Rouen, is one of them. “The ZFE is a good thingrecognizes the various left aedile, but the calendar is not tenable for the most modest, who take the measure head-on. » While Crit’Air 3 to 5 represent ” half “ of the car park in Maromme, “we don’t go into this with forceps”Judge M. Lamiray. “And there, the ax fell extremely brutally”he says.
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