L’Ariane Nice residents demand bus service to Auchan supermarket, Digi Mart USA News (Nice, France): At the top of the boulevard de L’Ariane in Nice-Est, a line of shopping carts and trolleys crosses the Anatole-France bridge. Rahma, 67, pulls a stroller loaded to the brim after returning from Auchan.
“I can’t take it anymore,” she said, describing traffic and an uneven sidewalk along the route.
Rahma said there is no bus, and that residents carry water packs and potatoes across the bridge every day. “Our backs are broken,” she said, adding that she carries groceries several times a week to fill her refrigerator.
Dozens of residents of the disadvantaged neighborhood shop at the nearest supermarket, located in the neighboring commune of La Trinité.
Ghizlale, 40, a mother of three who does not own a car, said she makes the round trip constantly and that it takes about fifteen minutes, longer when loaded. She recounted an incident when a shopping cart wheel broke and her groceries ended up on the road.
Khadija, 66, said the trip takes twice as long for her, about half an hour each way plus more on the return.
Radia also called for a bus, saying many residents struggle without cars or are ill and unable to make the walk. A young mother with two children said the route is dangerous, citing the sidewalks and the roundabout, and described it as exhausting.
Bertrand Gasiglia, president of the transit operator Ligne d’Azur (RLA), said he is open to a bus between L’Ariane and the Auchan in La Trinité. He said two working options are being considered, via line 7 or line 81, which he estimated would cost “a few hundred thousand euros per year.” He noted a technical problem remains, namely the lack of a turnaround area at Auchan.
Ladislas Polski, mayor of La Trinité, supports the options, calling bus service to the hypermarket “an obvious necessity.” He pointed to line 81, created when Drap joined the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, suggesting its route could be slightly adjusted to serve not only Auchan but also other neighborhoods such as Négron.
