"The ZTL will be done well at the beginning of 2024," reaffirmed the elected socialist, who had decided in early 2022 to postpone by a year and a half the implementation of this flagship project of his second term.

This ZTL must drastically reduce the place of the car in the hypercenter of the capital - four first arrondissements, plus the parts of the V, VI and VIIe located between the boulevard Saint-Germain and the Seine - via the prohibition of so-called transit traffic, which represents 50% of current traffic, according to the town hall.

The left-wing majority justified this postponement by the need to "take the time" for an impact study and a public inquiry that must involve residents, transport authorities, shopkeepers and department stores.

"We are keeping the deadlines," Hidalgo told AFP. "We will forward our file to the Environmental Authority in the coming weeks for a public inquiry at the end of the summer."

At the same time, the former PS candidate in the presidential election must convince the prefect of police Laurent Nunez whose predecessor, Didier Lallement, had expressed "strong reservations about the project as envisaged" by the town hall.

"We are still discussing, in very good understanding, the perimeter with the prefecture of police. These developments will not prevent it from continuing to carry out its mission of protecting Parisians," promises Anne Hidalgo.

The police headquarters is located in the heart of the perimeter planned for the ZTL, on the Ile de la Cité.

For the former prefect, the project of the town hall risked generating "difficulties for the circulation of emergency services and police on the outskirts of the area" as well as a "negative impact on the economic activity of the capital".

Relations between the prefecture and the town hall have noticeably improved since the change of prefect, even if opposition persists, as on the project of pedestrianization of the axis of the Eiffel Tower, suspended because of the opposition of the State.

At the beginning of March, the ecologist majority of Lyon unveiled a plan to pedestrianize and limit motor vehicle traffic in the hypercenter of Lyon by 2026.

Unauthorised motorists will therefore have to bypass ZTLs, already deployed in cities such as Nantes, Rennes and Grenoble.

© 2023 AFP