Anne Hidalgo, in Paris on April 25, 2021. – JP PARIENTE / SIPA
Will the car soon be banned in the center of the capital? The Paris town hall wants to make more room for pedestrians, bicycles and public transport from 2022 in the center of the city by “drastically reducing” the traffic of vehicles crossing the area without stopping there, explains the deputy to the roads David Belliard at the launch of a consultation on the subject.
The “Zone appaisée Paris Center and Saint-Germain” will concern the entire Paris Center sector, which since 2020 includes the first 4 districts of the capital, and the part of the left bank located north of Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements.
“Give pride of place to pedestrians, bicycles and public transport”
This “limited traffic zone” (ZTL) has “the ambition to drastically reduce transit traffic to give pride of place to pedestrians, bicycles and public transport”, explained on Twitter David Belliard, deputy (EELV) of the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo in charge of the transformation of public space.
Launched Wednesday evening, the consultation, which should lead in October to the completion of the project before setting up the ZTL during the first half of 2022, should in particular make it possible to “specify the categories of vehicles authorized to enter the center”, explains the town hall on its website. The question of two-wheelers will be raised there.
Residents will be able to continue to access the area
“If Paris wants to reduce transit traffic, there is no question of eliminating all traffic,” warns David Belliard. “Local residents, people with reduced mobility, taxis, local artisans and traders, etc. can continue to access it. “
The consultation should also make it possible to determine the modalities of access to the ZTL. In addition to adapting the signage, “we want to limit the number of possible accesses” via “changes to local traffic plans to reduce passageways”, explains David Belliard to AFP. “Obviously, this will require agents from the town hall on the ground. “
Transit, 40 to 60% of all traffic
Transit traffic represents between 40% and 60%, depending on the hour, of all automobile traffic in this sector, underlines the deputy for whom 180,000 cars pass each day in this zone, ie “10 times more than the number. cars for those who live there ”.
In her program for her re-election campaign in 2020, Anne Hidalgo, potential presidential candidate in 2022, had promised “the creation of pedestrian areas in all neighborhoods” and “the pedestrianization of the center of Paris”.
His first mandate was marked by a long political and legal standoff to close part of the lanes on the banks of the Seine to traffic, now reserved for pedestrians.