In a hurry, the metropolis creates more space for cyclists. Parts of the city should be completely car-free.
- Coronavirus * and the street: Paris is changing
- In Paris, wide bike paths suddenly emerge
- Historical center around the Louvre could car-free will
Paris - For years it was considered impossible in Paris : plans for a coherent bicycle network to the suburbs failed due to too many geographical and administrative hurdles. But last weekend, the residents of the French capital were amazed.
50 kilometers of new cycle paths are to be created in Paris
In a hurry, urban workers transformed the right-hand lane of numerous boulevards and axes of entry with yellow paint and plastic bollards into wide cycle paths . What used to result in massive protests by drivers is now swallowed up without hesitation.
For security, Mayor Anne Hidalgo specified that the bright yellow wheel tracks are only "temporary". In France , however, such temporary restorations often turn into permanent solutions. In any case, 50 kilometers of new cycle paths will be created in Paris by June . And they should be used more abundantly than before. Cycling is a trend across the country.
Plan de circulation vélo prévu dans le cadre du déconfinement: nous allons progressivement créer 50km de pistes cyclables supplémentaires à Paris. ♀️♂️ #Transports #velotaf pic.twitter.com/2ry1i3NZph
- Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) May 14, 2020Paris: Mayor drives green transport policy - encouraged by Corona
Since Monday, the French government has also given bicycle owners 50 euros for the repair of their old steel horse. Hidalgo is pressing ahead with its “green” transport policy - encouraged by Corona .
In lockdown, air pollution has dropped back to acceptable levels for the first time in a long time. There are hardly any traffic jams at the moment. The red-green city government has been trying to push car traffic out of the city center for almost twenty years.
Hidalgo prohibits older diesel engines from entering Paris
She has already handed over the express roads along the banks of the Seine to pedestrians. It prohibits older diesel engines from entering Paris. Should Hidalgo be re-elected in the municipal elections - presumably held this summer - she wants to make the historic center around the Louvre completely car-free . Only bicycles and electric buses would be allowed in the four central arrondissements - especially for tourists.
In order to keep cars at the gates of Paris , Hidalgo has also created new park-and-ride spaces at the metro terminus around Paris in 2000 ; they are free of charge for holders of a monthly pass. And if there are traffic jams in Paris after the pandemic, Hidalgo only wants to let half of the cars into the city, even numbers on one day, odd the next.
Corona does not make everything possible, not even in Parisian transport policy
The commuters from the suburbs still have to swallow this innovation. Anne Hidalgo also has to be careful that her braking policy against fossil fuels does not increase the traffic on the S-Bahn and the metro of the city * too much - because these are currently having enough trouble to ensure the virus-related safety distance between passengers.
Corona does not make everything possible, not even in Parisian transport policy. The bicycle is unthinkable for the many commuters who live twenty or thirty kilometers outside of Paris . However, the train does not tempt you to change because of the current fear of infection. Even if the center of Paris with its 100,000 inhabitants will soon become car-free, this does not apply so quickly to the agglomeration with twelve million people.
By Stefan Brändle
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
