A son and his father play tennis, their net stretched in the middle of the road deserted by cars. The photo has toured social networks. During the confinement, pedestrians, children and adults alike, took back the street and it seems that they liked the idea. Now that we are unconfigured, walking is gaining momentum.
Indeed, 58% of French people declare that they will change their modes of travel; 24% say they want to walk more, then comes the car for 15% and then the bicycle for 13% of French people, according to the Road Risk Observatory * that we reveal. "The fear of contagion in public transport has a lot to do with it, but it is also, I think, a desire to move our bodies which have remained constrained for too long", analyzes Anne Lavaud, president of the Prévention Routière association .
"If the French keep their word, it will be excellent news," said Nathalie Irisson, secretary general of Insurance and Prevention. Resuming walking will have an impact on public health, walking 30 minutes a day for an adult relieves stress and prevents the risk of cardiovascular disease. "
One-way sidewalks in the Côtes-d'Armor
You still need to be able to put on your sneakers and move around on foot without worry. "Pedestrians are the forgotten ones of post-containment measures", regrets Mathieu Chassignet, mobility specialist at the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME). Forgotten all over the country? No, some municipalities are seen as pioneers.
This is the case in Penvénan, a village of 2,600 inhabitants of Côtes-d'Armor. One of the hairdressers had the idea of one-way sidewalks. "As our shopping street is very dynamic and the sidewalks are very narrow, passers-by found themselves walking in the middle of the street to avoid touching each other," says Stéphane Kopp between two cuts. He was in fact inspired by the market of the town which established a sense of traffic: now, everyone holds his right, including on foot.
The municipality played the game and painted yellow arrows on the ground. Signs leaving the car park also explain how it works. "Like everywhere, we have our rebels, jokes Christophe but the principle is well accepted, and welcome! This initiative, not far-fetched, could be emulated to respect the safety distances and avoid being brushed against while walking.
School streets in Gironde
In Paris, as in Nantes, the cities have widened sidewalks in front of certain shops by taking up space for the car. Old Lille, the historic center of the northern capital, has become pedestrian every Saturday. No noise, children playing in the street, people in the shops, space to walk ... The residents are delighted.
In Talence (Gironde), elected officials have created school streets, that is to say which become pedestrian at the time of entry and exit from classes. "It makes the surroundings of schools safer, but also less polluted and more peaceful," notes Mathieu Chassignet.
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"Soothed" seems to be the leitmotif of walking enthusiasts. It's not just about closing streets to cars. Pedestrians must be made to want to go there. “For municipalities, meeting areas seem THE solution: easy to set up, just put up signs and cars drive at 20 km / h, pedestrians have priority. The problem is that nobody really knows how it works, ”points out Anne Faure, the president of the association Rue de future.
"We have to make the street pleasant"
In fact, the public authorities are not the only ones in charge of promoting this. From Nantes, Vincent Prochasson, also a member of Rue de Futurite, is betting on "the initiatives of traders who make waiting comfortable beyond the white strip, by distributing coffees or by creating a space with plants or a garland. We have to make the street pleasant ”.
In Quebec, a collective of urban planners imagines “neighborhood counters”: terraces in the parks that can be used successively as coffee for work, picnic area and then evening snack bar. To residents, local associations, traders to ensure compliance with barrier gestures: clean the facilities, distribute the disinfectant at the counter, organize the lines. Our cousins in La Belle Province expect these neighbors to be able to call the recalcitrant to order in a “cooler” way than police officers.
* Survey carried out for the Road Prevention and Insurance and Prevention associations, by Opinionway online between May 8 and 10, 2020, among 1,129 French people aged 18 and over. The sample was drawn up according to the quota method, with regard to the criteria of sex, age, place of residence, status and socio-professional category.