Ribérac - Route Barrée

 

Where the money's going

Ribérac is currently undergoing major roadworks.  Traffic is being diverted coming up from the south from the direction of Bergerac and Mussidan and also traffic entering Ribérac from the north in the Angôuleme direction.  The main beneficiaries of all this road digging are the people and businesses who live and operate alongside the Rue Principale.  The reason for this is that all the heavy goods vehicles have now been banished from the town centre.  This means that one can now enjoy an expresso or hot chocolate at the local bar without getting up close and personal to a 'poids lourds'  (heavy goods vehicle) as it thunders past your delicately positioned café chair. 

 

Just local cars and delivery lorries pass this way now

It is envisaged that once the works are completed by about June 2011 the town will take on a new attraction with the absence of all these HGV's of which France seems to have more than its fair share.  Let us all hope that by this time the only disturbance, centre ville, will be caused by the odd rustle of the Daily Mail being opened, the plop of a sugar lump or two being dropped into a coffee cup or the sound of dripping water descending from a freshly watered hanging basket full of geraniums. 

 

Discussing the finer points of laying new sewage pipes

Of course there are always people who view things in a different way.  One local shopkeeper passed comment to me the other day saying "It's the silence, there's just too much silence".  Le Monsieur probably equates the roar and rumble of trucks (and let me assure you they do roar and rumble along the badly maintained roads) with the sound of business.  Although I have to say I have never witnessed a 15m truck parked outside his shop whilst the driver nipped in for a packet of fags!

 

Hopefully lorries like these that haul half a forest around on the back will no longer traverse the centre of Ribérac

The whole project falls under yet another EU directive grandly entitled 'La Directive européenne sur les Eaux Résiduaires Urbaines (DERU) et de la Loi française sur l'Eau et les Milieux Aquatiques (LEMA) and costing a cool 1,673 611, 20€. I understand it's to be a new system that separates rain water from used water in a more efficient (and less aromatic way) than is currently employed and will provide safe and pleasant drinking water.  The financial argument as far as the tax payers are concerned it that it allows for the sustainable development of Ribérac, thus increasing investment in commerce.  This in turn will hopefully create more local employment.  In the meantime we can now look forward to a much more pleaant meander to the local shops.

The scale of the works is revealed whilst local commerce continues

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