“The way is clear”, the city wants to catch up on pedestrianization


The Corniche in Marseille. – PHILIPPE MAGONI / SIPA

  • The town hall of Marseille is organizing the first edition of the “La Voie est libre” operation.
  • This operation aims for the Marseillais to reclaim public space through pedestrianization.
  • On Sunday May 23, the whole of the Corniche will be pedestrianized as well as part of L’Estaque, north of Marseille.

Allow Marseillais to reclaim their city. This is the objective of the first edition of the operation “The way is free”, organized by the town hall of Marseille with the pedestrianization of public space. “We have been working for months on calming traffic on the coast. The context is complicated with the Covid pandemic, which postponed the operation. The idea to do so on May 23 is to combine the release of confinement with a day of breathing and relaxation, ”executive Audrey Gatino, mobility assistant.

On May 23, from 10 am to 6 pm, two areas will be completely pedestrianized: the Corniche, symbol of the beauty of the Marseille coast, but also L’Estaque, to the north of the city. “It was important for us to promote the southern coast, but also the northern coast,” recalls Roland Cazzola, deputy for public space.

The Estaque area concerned by – Marseille City Hall

The affected area at L’Estaque will be limited to the side alley of the port, faced with the difficulties of pedestrianizing the departmental road connecting the Rove and Estaque areas to downtown Marseille.

The Corniche area concerned by
The Corniche area concerned by – Marseille City Hall

The Corniche area will extend over 3.7 km between the David roundabout and Malmousque.

Sign up for the long term

This first edition will take on an experimental form since the city of Marseille wishes to make this operation sustainable. “The objective is that there are other editions, it is a strong will of the municipality. We don’t know exactly how often, but we would like to do one per month, with improvements depending on this first edition, ”explains Audrey Gatino. But also why not sustainably pedestrianize the area of ​​Estaque.

The first edition of “The way is free” should correspond with the delivery of the fleet of 1,000 new electrically assisted bicycles, in the call for projects launched by the town hall a few days ago. On Sunday May 23, two areas of Marseille will be completely pedestrianized. So much delay in other cities, that Marseille is trying to catch up.



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