Paths on the banks in Paris, part of the right bank soon to be pedestrian in turn

This new project of total closure to automobile traffic and the creation of a "4,5-hectare planted pedestrian area" along the Seine on the right bank, like what was done in 2012 on the left bank between the bridge Royal and the Alma bridge will be presented to the Paris council in November, said Anne Hidalgo in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche. This "authoritarian" decision for the right predicts "more traffic jams" and "more pollution".

Concretely, the pedestrianization of the Georges-Pompidou road (13 km) will be on a section of "3,3 km which goes from the Tuileries tunnel (2016st arrondissement) to the Arsenal basin (XNUMXth)", the quays down the along the Seine being "permanently closed to car traffic" after "the XNUMX edition of Paris Plages".

This new space for "breathing, walking and relaxation", the cost of which she estimates "at most 8 million euros", "will profoundly change the face and image of our city", adds Ms. Hidalgo, which "fully assumes the objective of deterrence" from car traffic.

"Along the quays, boats will be moored, offering a floating market of regional organic products, a tavern, a co-working space ...

On the banks, we will install light and removable equipment, refreshments, games for children, pétanque fields, small city stadiums - usable 24 hours a day - for sports, playing basketball ... But also a street furniture to sit and watch the landscape, simply. This is what Parisians expect, "she said.

Regarding the Tuileries tunnel (830 m), along the Louvre, "it will become a crossing point for pedestrians". "We could also find different activities there, such as a nightclub, but also cultural spaces, a place dedicated to street art ...", said Ms. Hidalgo, who claims to have relied on "a broad consultation" of Parisians .

Opposition challenges project

The municipal opposition group Les Républicains, chaired by ex-Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, denounced Sunday an "authoritarian approach" by the mayor of the capital after "a sham concertation in midsummer" (see our article).

"By choosing precipitation, it organizes the full postponement of traffic on the high quays and their asphyxiation. By deciding unilaterally, it gives a new demonstration of its contempt for the inhabitants and the elected officials of the small crown", deplores the group LR .

"Travel times will be greatly lengthened and pollution will therefore only be displaced and even aggravated on the high platforms," ​​added the opposition.

In fact, closing this expressway on the right bank to traffic could cause motorists to lose up to twenty minutes, according to a study by the road and travel management (DVD) of the Paris town hall published in late September.

The Medef also opposed "a clear and massive rejection" to this pedestrianization of the tracks on the bank. "How can we accept that such a decision is taken without consulting elected officials in the region?" Added Sunday on Twitter Valérie Pécresse, head of LR list at regional in Ile-de-France.

Anne Hidalgo mocks Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet's counter-project, which plans to let cars circulate sometimes on the high platforms, sometimes on the low platforms.

"It is a very bad idea, which would be extremely expensive", "at least 60 million euros," she said. "Especially since on flood days, no more car could roll either up or down."

Hidalgo also confirmed the construction of a right bank tramway - a campaign proposal from environmentalists in 2014 that she had taken over on her own - for commissioning "before 2020". A project which "will allow a crossing of Paris from west to east, either by the high quays, or by the rue de Rivoli".

www.paris.fr