Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is calling for design proposals for three new bridges across the Seine, all of them restricted to pedestrians and cyclists, and all with green plantings and public amenities, including cafes and shops which would pay the cost.
The plan, which is in an early stage, would build on Hidalgo’s plans that have already restricted motor traffic in the capital and especially around the river. While the city is pitching the bridges as a wave of the future, the key idea of funding them by renting space to businesses is a return to medieval practice.
Two of the three bridges would be in locations that are not heavily touristed; part of the plan is to spread out Paris’s visitors over a wider area and share the benefits (and costs) with more neighborhoods.
One of the bridges would connect the 12th and 13th to the southeast. Another would cross the river a bit east of the Ile-Saint-Louis, and the third, southwest of the Eiffel Tower, would cross near the Parc Andre Citroen.
Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir, near Parc de Bercy, Paris (AHert/Wikimedia)
