MRAE Report

The municipality of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie), located in the Arve Valley, is part of the Pays du Mont-Blanc community of municipalities, two thirds of residences are secondary or occasional housing. The planned valley elevator will link Le Fayet, which houses the train station, to the Neyret/Châtelet sector and will operate all year round from 7 am to 10 pm. It is intended for permanent residents on the one hand, and for the occasional and tourist population of the commune on the other, to whom it will offer access to the Évasion Mont-Blanc ski area. The environmental assessment process focused on the creation of a valley elevator and on the compatibility of the local urban plan (PLU) of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.

For the Environmental Authority, the main issues of the territory and the project are

- the quality of the air induced by travel, with regard to the objectives of the Arve Valley atmosphere prevention plan;

- the landscape and heritage in connection with the protection of natural sites and historical monuments;

- noise, particularly in the vicinity of existing homes along the route;

- natural hazards, in particular earth movements and rock falls;

- biodiversity and natural environments with regard to the forest habitat and protected species of birds and bats; and

- climate change and in particular greenhouse gas emissions that can be reduced by the project.

While the stated objective is both to provide urban transport for the inhabitants and to facilitate access to the ski area, in a context of degraded air quality, the dossier does not indicate what tourist traffic is expected for these installations, which could lead one to believe that its only purpose and its only impact are related to the necessary works and the use of the link presented by 460 people per day. Thus, the dossier does not assess the impact of the use of the new link by the tourist population, nor the impact of the modernization of the Fayet multimodal interchange and the replacement of the "DMC" (double mono cable) necessary to achieve the announced objective, in particular concerning parking (at Fayet and Châtelet) and the expected flows.

The negative impacts of the valley elevator in terms of noise and landscape, if they are evaluated, are not subject to avoidance, reduction or compensation measures commensurate with the nuisance they cause. The same is true for the impacts on birds and bats, which must also be assessed in terms of cumulative effects with other known projects, particularly those of the public. All the alternative solutions that were studied are not included in the impact study. The solution consisting in developing the existing road links (change of vehicles, capacities, frequencies), requested during the consultation, has not been studied.

Finally, the changes planned in the context of the compatibility of the Saint-Gervais PLU go beyond those strictly necessary for the project and are likely to have strong impacts (in terms of noise or biodiversity, concerning the N zoning in particular) which have not been evaluated.

Furthermore, the elements required by the regulations for impact studies of transport infrastructures are not provided. The absence of damage to protected species or their habitats has not been demonstrated at this stage

For each project subject to environmental assessment, the environmental authority must give its opinion and make it available to the project owner, the decision-making authority and the public.

This opinion concerns the quality of the impact study presented by the project owner and the consideration given to the environment by the project. The opinion is therefore neither favorable nor unfavorable and does not deal with the opportunity. It aims to improve the design of the project, as well as the information of the public and its participation in the elaboration of the decisions which relate to it.

This opinion is published on the MRAe website. In accordance with Article R. 123-8 of the Environmental Code, it must be included in the project file submitted to a public inquiry or other public consultation procedure provided for by the legislative and regulatory provisions in force.

In accordance with article L. 122-1 of the Environment Code, the present notice must be answered in writing by the project owner, who will make it available to the public by electronic means at the latest at the time of the opening of the public inquiry provided for in article L. 123-2 or of the public participation by electronic means provided for in article L. 123-19.

Complet Report  : Avis Ascenseur Valleen 2022-ARA-AP-1301 

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