Europe 1 with AFP 2:08 p.m., May 18, 2022
Anne Hidalgo, socialist mayor of Paris, announced on Wednesday that she wanted to transform the ring road into a "green belt" of the capital.
The project led by Anne Hidalgo, aimed at greening and reducing the number of infrastructure lanes, will notably face opposition from Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region.
The PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo wants to make the ring road a "green belt" of the capital, promising to green 10 hectares and plant 70,000 trees by reducing the number of traffic lanes, she announced Wednesday at a conference. Press.
The "Olympic lane", reserved for participants in the 2024 Olympic Games (athletes, officials, emergency services), will then be reserved for buses, taxis and carpooling, said his assistant (EELV) for mobility David Belliard, for whom these two measures will allow to take 80,000 vehicles off the road.
"A more pleasant living environment"
The ring road now usually has four lanes per direction of traffic.
"Our objective is two times three lanes on the entire infrastructure", announced David Belliard.
The 35 km circular ring, which will celebrate its half-century in 2023, is a "grey belt that we would like to see transformed into a green belt" by 2030, said the former PS presidential candidate, which wants to offer the 500,000 inhabitants living on either side of this fast axis a "more harmonious, more pleasant living environment".
To carry out this project, Anne Hidalgo, whose first municipal mandate had been marked by a long politico-judicial fight to transform the paths on the banks of the right bank into a pedestrian promenade, intends to carry out "all legal consultations" and promises " to listen" to motorists, but also to "truck drivers, traders".
The horizon of 2030, after the end of his second term in 2026, must allow "people to be able to adapt" to this change, she said again.
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Valérie Pécresse opposed to the project
It should face radical opposition on this file from the right-wing president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse, who in 2021 asked the State to reconsider this municipal infrastructure as a regional infrastructure and asked "for impact studies" before the town hall launches its projects.
Another former presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse had organized an online consultation in which 90% of voters opposed the "removal" of a lane on the ring road.
On the ring road, 40% of journeys are from suburb to suburb and 80% of users are non-Parisians, depending on the region.