Fewer cars and more culture to “re-enchant” the Champs-Elysées

After five years of work for a budget of five million euros, the Champs-Elysées Committee, which has brought together the economic and cultural players of the world-famous avenue since 1916, presented on Monday its 150 proposals to "re-enchant" the place .

Too expensive, monopolized by luxury brands, too noisy, too polluted or impossible to cross... According to its president Marc-Antoine Jamet, the Committee started from the "alarming" observation that the avenue "was no longer loved , was no longer lovable, deserted by Parisians, feared by foreigners", in short that "everyone was fleeing from it".

Latest symptom to date: the UGC Normandie cinema will close its doors in June due to "the drop in attendance" at the cinemas on the two kilometer long avenue.

At the end of 2023, another historic cinema, the Gaumont-Marignan, had also closed its doors, while Fnac, weighed down by the increase in its rent and the drop in its customer base, will close its doors at the end of 2024.

To attract Parisians again, the study with 1.800 pages and 400 maps, which mobilized 183 experts, proposes to remake the Champs-Elysées into the place for walks sung about in the 1970s by Joe Dassin.

The authors recommend increasing the space reserved for pedestrians by 13% by widening the sidewalks on the upper part of the avenue, reducing the number of lanes reserved for traffic from six to four and doubling the width of cycle paths. .

Break areas should also be installed, in particular eight "plant rooms" of 150 m2, with "seats, shade in summer and a fountain", as well as a network of free sanitary facilities with nurseries.

“Climatic refuge”

"It is a question of maintaining the balance between foreign tourists and Parisians, (...) between public activities and private activities, (...) between an activity which would be museum but which would put the avenue under a bell and the absolute need for innovation,” Marc-Antoine Jamet commented to the press.

Now neglected, the 20 hectares of gardens near the Concorde would become "a true Parisian park, the equal of Luxembourg and the Buttes-Chaumont", with children's play areas, water games and fountains.

The objective is also to adapt the avenue to global warming by increasing permeable soils by 120%, planting 160 trees and developing 1 hectare of meadows and flowerbeds.

The authors aim to reduce the carbon footprint by 33% in 50 years and to lower the average temperature felt by 1 to 7 degrees in order to transform the avenue into a “climate refuge” in the event of a heatwave.

Pointing out the "visual and formal disorder" from which the avenue also suffers, they call for preserving the street furniture of the Belle Epoque (Morris columns, Wallace fountains) and creating "a Champs-Elysées design line" to give it a " overall harmony.

The study finally wishes to "remake the neighborhood" by programming a cultural offer "all year round" coordinated by a "cultural and artistic manager".

Like the giant picnics and dictations organized occasionally in front of the Arc de Triomphe, she suggests organizing "large free and unifying events" at Place de la Concorde: "Magical Nights" in the gardens, symphony concerts, flower markets, and anticipates the return of a “quality” Christmas market.

Not forgetting the proximity of the Elysée Palace and the National Assembly, the authors propose to install a "health and safety watch" equipped with first aid equipment, which would be open 24 hours a day, and to increase the number of foot and equestrian patrols.

“We are going to discuss with all the partners, first and foremost with the police headquarters (...) the idea being that the mayor of Paris can present the major decisions in the second half of 2024,” said first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire.

The Champs-Elysées Committee estimates the cost of its proposals at 250 million euros. “It seems to us that it is not a question of costs but of investments”, put Marc-Antoine Jamet into perspective, for whom the project will generate additional tax revenue which “is intended to finance all or part of the investment ".