2023-12-24 14:35:00
While the city center of Liège has regained (a little) fluidity in terms of mobility at the end of 2023, a measure taken during this end-of-year holiday period is once once more controversial: free transport car park.
It is indeed a tradition in Liège to “neutralize” paid parking on the streets, during the holidays, in order to attract as many people as possible to the Cité ardente… all benefits for local commerce, often in competition with shopping centers. which often advertise free parking all year round.
This year however, for economic reasons but also for mobility policy, this total free service was reduced to… 30 free minutes, from Friday December 8 to Sunday January 7. News that does not delight anyone in the political opposition. Not always for the same reasons.
30 free minutes in Liège during the holidays
The strongest criticisms are found from Vert Ardent (Eco) and Vega (Green and on the left). Because if the news might have been received positively, since these parties are pleading for a reduction in automobile pressure in the center of Liège, these 30 minutes are still described as “too much”.
Indeed, if Caroline Saal, head of the Vert Ardent group, judges that this reduction in free access is “a good step forward”, she continues to think that it is “a bad message”. In question: “This measure simply continues to encourage the arrival of cars in the city and does not at all respond to the current challenges of sustainable mobility”. Consequence insists the group leader: “always more illegal parking”.
Same story on Vega’s side since François Schreuer insists on the fact that it is “a bad measure”. For the latter, “the congestion in the center is already total and here, we will further strengthen it”. And to indicate in passing that said measure which should bring in money only targets a part of Liégeois, “those who have a car”, who represent less than 50% of the population.
For Vert Ardent as for Vega, the solution during the holidays should therefore rather promote the attractiveness of public transport. “We might in fact make shuttles coming from park and ride facilities free,” suggests Caroline Saal, “or allow merchants to distribute bus tickets to their customers,” continues François Schreuer.
Not enough
At the “center” of the Liège political spectrum, it was Carine Clotuche who presented the position of the Engagés… a position also critical of the free 30 minutes but for a completely different reason. Unlike the other parties, in fact, the Engagés believe on the contrary that these 30 minutes “are not enough”. “This is a band-aid measure which, even if it has good intentions, does not meet the needs of people who come to do their Christmas shopping.” For Carine Clotuche, the use of the car is more relevant during this Christmas shopping period and 30 minutes is absolutely not enough. However, free shuttles from the park and ride facilities are also advocated by the Engagés, as a measure that might attract more people to the city center.
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