Clément Beaune’s scathing response to Anne Hidalgo’s recent comments on the unpreparedness of public transport for the Paris Olympics was not limited to this single subject. On RTL this Sunday, the Minister of Transport also attacked the project to limit the speed on the Paris ring road to 50 km/h after the Olympic Games to reduce pollution, which the Paris town hall is considering. A “too brutal” and “premature” measure, judged Clément Beaune.
“No precise impact study”
Arguing that the ring road is mainly used by “France residents or French people, craftsmen, traders who need it to work”, the minister considered it “absurd” that the Paris town hall announces its intention to limit it to 50 km /hour the speed on this axis “without having consulted the surrounding communities, the Ile-de-France Region, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis or others, sometimes of the same political color as Madame Hidalgo”.
“There has been no precise impact study to explain to Parisians, to Ile-de-France residents. So I think it’s too brutal a measure, too premature,” he added.
Beaune favors, on the other hand, the tightening of parking for SUVs
Clément Beaune, on the other hand, welcomed two other measures also announced by the Paris town hall: the tightening of parking conditions for SUVs in Paris and the reservation of a lane dedicated to carpooling on the ring road around the capital.
“I will go to vote and I will vote as a Parisian citizen yes to toughen the conditions on SUVs” during a popular vote scheduled for February 4, declared Mr. Beaune, describing this initiative as a “good measure”.
“Because we have to move in the direction of ecology and sometimes these are courageous choices, having a reserved lane on the ring road is an interesting measure,” he added in the same way.