Le Figaro Bordeaux
After the children’s street, the
“garden street”
!
Since the beginning of February, in the Nansouty district of Bordeaux, rue Cazemajor has been under construction.
In about a year, a large part of this road, formerly crossed by cars and occupied by numerous parking spaces, will be both pedestrianized, de-artificialized and largely vegetated, in order to combat urban heat islands, in creating a new space of freshness.
At the end of this project, planned to last twelve months, 610 m² of soil will have been de-artificialized, 20 trees planted, 13 benches installed as well as two picnic tables, 27 bicycle hoops and 6 cargo bike hoops.
Low vegetation will be created in addition to trees and grassy paving stones will be placed on the sidewalks, helping the soil to partly absorb rainwater runoff.
“All these changes converge towards the same goal: to fight against urban heat islands, these thermal domes where temperatures are higher than elsewhere
,” specifies the town hall.
The work on rue Cazemajor is estimated at 540,000 euros.
A sketch of the access to Cazemajor Street once the work is completed.
City of Bordeaux
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Although it is close to rue Kléber - partly pedestrianized and greened by the previous municipality - rue Cazemajor will be the first of its kind.
“It’s the first children’s street to be green after having been pedestrianized
,” explains Didier Jeanjean, deputy mayor in charge of nature in the city and peaceful neighborhoods.
These works are in fact the second stage of the streets for children,
“secure, less polluted and more friendly spaces”
, where the circulation of cars is prohibited, either permanently or at least during school entry and exit hours.
In total, around forty Bordeaux schools already benefit from this system.
“By the end of the mandate, we will have pedestrianized or semi-pedestrianized 80% of the streets near the schools
,” rejoices Didier Jeanjean.
“We must first see if pedestrianization works, to then be able to go further.”
This is what was done on rue Cazemajor, where a kindergarten, a primary school and a high school are located, with the pedestrianization of part of the street from 2021, before considering ratifying this pedestrianization and adding sustainable revegetation.
“Four years ago, we were on a “dry street”, with nothing other than paving stones and bitumen, and tomorrow, we will have a space with 600 m² of open ground!”
For the elected official, this urban development is an example of
“happy ecology”
, making it possible to show that it is possible
“to do things that will allow us to adapt”
.
Bordeaux being, like many French cities, particularly vulnerable to climate change, with increasingly scorching temperatures in summer.
The ecological municipality is also working to develop revegetation
“wherever possible”
, sometimes removing parking to put trees there.
Between 2020 and 2024, more than 37,000 trees have been planted in the city.