Jean-Michel Aulas Proposes 8-Kilometer Megatunnel to Ease Lyon Traffic Amid Divided Municipal Campaign

Jean-Michel Aulas, running for mayor of Lyon, has put forward an ambitious plan to construct an 8-kilometer megatunnel aimed at relieving the city’s notorious traffic congestion. The proposed tunnel would run between Tassin-la-Demi-Lune and Saint-Fons, targeting the chronic bottleneck at the Fourvière tunnel, which currently handles around 110,000 vehicles daily, with 15% identified as transit traffic.

This infrastructure initiative, announced in early January, highlights stark divisions within the Lyon municipal election campaign centered on urban transport and societal models. Aulas criticizes the current ecologist-led municipal majority for exacerbating traffic issues through repeated roadworks. His project has gained backing from Véronique Sarselli, a Les Républicains candidate, who emphasized at a recent joint transportation conference that "cars are not going to disappear overnight," underlining the ongoing necessity of accommodating vehicular traffic.

The debate encapsulates broader political and practical challenges in balancing ecological goals with urban mobility demands. Aulas’ megatunnel proposal symbolizes a contrasting vision to the environmental policies currently favored, reflecting deep electoral cleavages over Lyon’s future development and infrastructure strategy.