Paris to create 140 football pitches worth of pedestrianised streets by 2030
Paris has unveiled its latest line of attack against the capital’s heavy traffic, with a plan that would make hundreds of square miles of the capital more pedestrian-friendly.
The French capital has been trying to restrict the use of cars after years of having some of the most congested streets in Europe.
A poll by Reuters found that in 2017 average speeds hovered around 15 km/hour with pollution levels stubbornly high.
In measures announced on Friday, David Belliard, deputy mayor of public spaces and mobility, said the city will invest £262 million (€300 million) to turn hundreds of miles of the capital into pedestrian-only zones by 2030, or the equivalent of 140 football pitches.
“Walking is at the heart of the ecological and social transformation that we are leading in Paris,” tweeted Mr Belliard.
“Free, zero emissions, silent, good for your health, walking only has advantages.”
Mr Belliard said the city is committed to a vision in which no pedestrians are victims of car accidents, citing Oslo as a model example.
In 2019, the Norwegian capital, which has a population of 680,000, slashed its pedestrian fatality rate to zero by discouraging car use through restrictions on speed limits, a 50 per cent increase in parking fees and driving bans around schools.
To that end, Mr Belliard said other measures he plans to roll out include widening pavements and footpaths, longer pedestrian crossing times at traffic lights and eliminating bike paths on shared pavements with pedestrians.
The city’s Paris Respire program, in which select neighbourhoods are closed off to car traffic on Sundays and holidays, may also expand to other zones and increase in frequency.
Paris has been waging an increasingly aggressive war on car use for some years now.
After a public vote this summer, Paris became the first major European capital to ban the use of rented electric scooters owing to safety concerns and the pile-up of discarded scooters.
Last week, Ms Hidalgo also announced plans to hold a vote on whether or not to increase parking fees for SUVs in February.
