The event was well worth a few oils of the Republic. This Wednesday, Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate for Transport, Patrick Ollier, President of the Greater Paris metropolitan area and Tony Estanguet, President of the Organizing Committee for the Games (COJO) were present in front of the Stade de France to inaugurate the “pedestrian crossing and soft mobility” linking the forecourt of the stadium to the Olympic Aquatic Center under construction in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).
100 meters long and 20 meters wide, this metal walkway is a bridge both literally and figuratively. Initially, it will allow athletes, delegations and numerous visitors to move from one Olympic site to another without having to cross the A1 motorway or the avenue du President Wilson, two particularly dense traffic arteries.
“This bridge foreshadows a bigger future project”
But if so many personalities, including many elected officials from the region (such as Geoffroy Boulard, vice-president of the MGP, Stéphane Troussel, president of the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis or Mathieu Hanotin, mayor of Saint-Denis) , came to admire the dance performance offered to the guests before the ribbon cutting, it is also that this is the first achievement of the finished games which will benefit from a “legacy phase” .
“This bridge foreshadows a larger future project”, explains Christian Mourougane, director of metropolitan planning-JOP 2024 mission. To sum up, if around 20 million euros have been invested, it is not only for the Olympic Games. Once the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games is over, work will begin to transform the premises, including a “greening of the passage” with the installation of green spaces, and the extension of the crossing to the future Concerted development (ZAC) Saulnier.
Connecting the Pleyel district, the ZAC Saulnier and the Aquatic Center
If during the Games, the ZAC will host different elements of Olympic logistics, with areas for the press, for the organization and for the athletes (including a magnificent training track for the “throws”), it will then be transformed into mixed urban project with housing, offices and tertiary activities with work to start in 2025.
The metropolis of Greater Paris also plans to extend this “bridge” to the Pleyel district to create a link between it and the sports venues and allow residents to benefit from the infrastructure of the Olympic Aquatic Center currently under construction. Because he too will be entitled to a post-event “legacy”. Since part of the stands will disappear after the games to make way for fitness, climbing, padel and 5-a-side football areas. A way of “sewing up the territory”, according to Patrick Ollier.