Opening in September
A 133 million tunnel will upset the life of this Chablais village
After years of work, the work of bypassing Evouettes is preparing to relieve the inhabitants, but makes fear for the local economy. Reporting.
Pascal Schürmann, director of PS Consulting, in front of his company in the Évouettes, a very popular road where traffic will be diverted with a new tunnel.
Chantal Dervey
- AVIA service station provides for a slight drop in activity after opening the tunnel.
- The Maison Le Maguet restaurant is delighted with a quieter atmosphere.
- The Vapothèque hesitates to leave the Évouettes after thirteen months of activity.
- The 740-meter two-meter tunnel will be inaugurated in mid-September 2025.
It is a great upheaval that awaits the Village des Évouettes and its 900 inhabitants next month. After years of work – first pick in 2016 – the tunnel To his name will be put into service on September 15. The end of a site at 133 million, granted by the Canton of Valais. Objective: relieve this hamlet of Port-Valais located at the foot of the Grammont, which sees nearly 18,000 vehicles cross it every day, creating traffic jams and pollution.
It was necessary to extract 130,000 m³ of materials to be able to draw this 740-meter long bidirectional tube, which opens to the south of the H144 road roundabout until its northern exit. A hundred companies worked on the site with a total of 350 workers.
The road crossing the Évouettes in one way
The cantonal road crossing the Évouettes will become municipal and will be one-way (North-South). For vehicles from the Bouveret or Saint-Gingolph, it will therefore be necessary to go through the tunnel to return to the hamlet. Inevitably, deviating out of the village the flow of vehicles should improve the quality of life of the Avouettouds, but has a medal back. This makes fear for the economic vitality of the village. A good handful of shops offers various services.
“We have not yet made a decision, but we are not sure to stay,” says Marianne Jacquemet, co -manager of the Vapothèque. It will also depend on the developments that will be installed by the town. ” The authorities will indeed present a concept to the population in September. Green spaces would be at least created.
Already present in Aigle and Montreux, the brand active in electronic cigarettes is the last coming to Évouettes: “We settled thirteen months ago and it works quite well, a little less than hoped anyway,” says Marianne Jacquemet. “The target of cross -border workers is not really reached. Our customers are residents of here or people passing through. ”
The Evouettes tunnel will be inaugurated on September 13 and will open to traffic the following week.
Chantal Dervey
The tunnel could also push “indirectly” Pascal Schürmann to go and give his advice elsewhere. The boss of PS Consulting has been active in the sale and follow-up in computer science and telephony for twenty-eight years, and at the heart of the evouettes since 2017. “I say indirectly, because it is possible that the owner is considering another assignment for his property. The room has also become too big for the usefulness that I have now. ”
Some of his clients told him that they may not be the detour once the municipal road is under the one-way direction. “So I look a bit right. I will stay in a village. It could be the Bouveret… ”
“Happy!” the inhabitants of the evouettes
“We are ochyy”, proclaimed ourselves Pierrette The Maguet Peeling boiled potatoes in the restaurant’s kitchen that she has managed for forty-two years with the chef, her husband Olivier Le Maguet. Véronique, sister of Pierrette, has also been there from the start.
From his piano, adjusting his apron and sharpening his blades, Olivier Le Maguet develops: “Our customers, mainly, but also we will hear silence again and less breathing in hydrocarbons. In complete safety. ” The bypass of the village will confirm the opening change of the culinary address: it will now be from Wednesday to Saturday.
Véronique, Pierrette and Olivier, in the oven and the mill of the Maison Le Maguet restaurant.
Christophe Boillat
But will all this ultimately penalize their turnover? “Not at all,” says the Maguet. ” We have loyal customers. ” And the chief added: “They often come from everywhere. Either from the bottom of Valais and Geneva. And even from France! ” The hamlet still has two other restaurants, currently closed: Oxalis and Grammont.
On this road, we also find the Avia supply column. “We anticipate a slight decrease in turnover, but it should remain moderate,” sums up a member of his management. Indeed, motorists will no longer fear being blocked in traffic and the station will remain easily accessible, just 350 meters from the roundabout of the tunnel outlet. ”
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