Main banks reconquest : Frédéric Béatse and Christophe Béchu have their respective ways

The future, or no future, of the speedway along the Maine river between the Molière square and the Angers castle appears like one of the most important differences between Frédéric Béatse, current mayor, and Christophe Béchu, his challenger, current president of the Maine-et-Loire general council. Both of them are supporters of a scheme aiming at including the river and its banks in the places Angers inhabitants may go, like in any other one.

Poissonnerie square

The project adopted by the city council plans to maintain an aerial way for car traffic constituted by four lanes (two towards Nantes and two towards Paris) what, according to Mr. Béchu, is absolutely conflicting with the direct access of pedestrians to the Maine banks the two candidates endorse. So Mr. Béchu suggests to set up a plant cover above the speed way "which has been paid and where 20 000 vehicles pass through everyday".

According to Angers city hall, such an option is not technically feasible because the pressure exerted by the Maine river, above all during rises, would be too important for the walls of the speedway buried between Molière and Poissonnière squares. In the project of Mr. Béchu, these would be reunified and would be the place for the junction of the two tramway lines. So the route of the second tramway line is also a major difference between the two candidates in their respective approaches of the Maine bank reconquest.