“After the Olympic Games, cars will not return in front of the Eiffel Tower”
where the pedestrianization project wanted by Paris City Hall, but contested by the State, will be partly carried out, declared the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo on Monday 5 February in an interview with
Ouest-France.
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After the Olympic Games (July 26 - August 11),
“the Trocadéro will be greened and the Pont d'Iéna pedestrianized, up to the Champ-de-Mars which will be reforested.
The whole will form a large park in the heart of Paris
,” reaffirms the elected official.
This project is not new: it involves the revegetation and pedestrianization of the perspective between the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro, originally wanted for the Olympic Games by Anne Hidalgo.
But after its validation by the Paris Council in February 2022, former police prefect Didier Lallement vetoed it, fearing
“significant traffic delays”
and
“detentions”
likely to hamper emergency services.
Administrative justice ruled in his favor twice, rejecting the City's appeals in October 2022 and April 2023.
With the projects blocked, Anne Hidalgo made it clear during her wishes in January that she wanted to relaunch negotiations after the Olympics.
She
“wants the prefect to reexamine his refusal of construction site rights
,” those around her told AFP.
His relations with the current prefect Laurent Nunez are notably better than with his predecessor.
Half-moon circulation
Compared to the initial project, the areas of Champ-de-Mars and the Eiffel Tower, where Anne Hidalgo had also had to abandon the felling of around twenty trees in the face of the mobilization of environmental defenders, do not are not affected by the resumption of the project, indicates his office.
On the other hand, the Place du Trocadéro is concerned, where the town hall wanted to impose half-moon traffic, like at the Bastille, to enlarge the space reserved for pedestrians, and the Iéna bridge which the town hall also intends to return to pedestrians.
This bridge is popular with tourists, many of whom take their photos in front of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the road, despite the traffic.
During the Olympics, the Eiffel Tower on the Champ-de-Mars side will host the beach volleyball events, in a temporary stadium, while the athletes will be able to come and celebrate their medals with the public in the Trocadéro gardens.