Angers railway station esplanade : from car park to car trap

It is said that the opportunity to make a first good feeling is never given twice. If such a proverb may fit to travellers arriving to Angers Saint-Laud railway station, it is also valuable for people going there to welcome passengers but in that case, those may ask themselves when they will have a good opinion about simply parking a car. Completely redesigned in 2001, the facility looks, twelve years later, more and more difficult for drivers to use.

The number of parkings spaces has decreased along the years and a large part of the remaining spots is now charged. On the opposite, an important space is dedicated to the municipal bikes that travellers arriving in Angers do not use... And, field of questionning since a few months, a part of the way around the centre of the square has been closed and remains empty... So it is as difficult to come in the railway station esplanade as to leave it.

The topic will not be at the core of the next municipal campaign but the contenders and the future city council would be well advised to think about a possible redevelopment of the place, unaccessible to private cars which are the only vehicles designed to take passengers with luggage. Until that moment, the Angers Saint-Laud car park will be the Angers Saint-Laud car trap.