REPORTING. "The traffic is hell" : residents of small towns overwhelmed by "the Waze effect"
Exasperated residents. Camphin-en-Carembault (North) is crossed by a departmental road very favored by the Waze application to avoid traffic jams. An alternative route proposed by the navigation application which causes an influx of motorists in this northern town. The residents can’t take it anymore, especially those living in the red brick houses that overlook the street. “The national road runs parallel to the A1 motorway as soon as the motorway is blocked, it becomes an annex to the motorway”explains Joseph.
The application already offers to take this route even when it is not rush hour and it starts early in the morning “From 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m., the traffic is hellish. A little less on weekends but there are also a lot of motorcycles passing by”, explains Christelle. Fortunately, even though her house is on the side of the road, she doesn’t hear much at home. “It’s still quite insulated with the windows closed, so it cuts the sound a little, explains Christelle. But the sunny days are coming back, we will inevitably reopen the windows.”
In all, nearly 12,000 cars pass every day on this road which remains an important place of life for the 1,800 inhabitants of the town. There is a pharmacy, a tobacconist, a vegetable seller and if you walk a little further you will even find a school. The road remains quite dangerous for children. “For 20 years, I have been going back and forth every day in a stroller with childrenexplains Catherine who looks after four children every lunchtime. You should be careful. It’s especially crossing the fire, you have to be careful because the vehicles are burning the fire.”
“We have had two accidents involving young children who were taken to school by their parentssays Mathieu Lestoquoy is mayor of the town. Fortunately, it was not serious. But you know, luck, at some point, it leaves you. The problem has existed for 15 years now. years.” The mayor therefore decided to take action by trying to call the Waze company several times. “In most cases, we did not get a response. When we did get responses, they explained to us that they were in their operating mode, that is to say they are reporting traffic where we report traffic.”
So he quickly found a solution: change the signage. “We installed stop signs at each intersectionexplains the mayor. The president of the department, following his visit, installed raised platforms at the entrance to the commune, which significantly reduced the speed.” The bill amounts to 1,200 euros for the municipality. Since then, the application, Waze, favors this street much less. Two years after creating these facilities, at least 2,000 cars pass every day on this road.
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