Future and present in Paris plan to replace highway with pedestrians
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has made reducing traffic and pollution key goals of her regime, has announced that the highway along the Right (north) Bank of the Seine will be permanently closed to cars at the end of next summer.
Portions of the roadway are already closed to cars for part of each summer and a section is transformed into Paris Plage, a temporary beach along the river. Next summer, it won't be returned to traffic, and the rest of the 3.3km road between the Tuileries and the Port de L'Arsenal will become pedestrian territory.
Motorist groups are already complaining that the action will make driving across Paris take much longer and cause more pollution; on the other hand, it might push more people into using public transportation. Hidalgo's plan includes construction of a new tramway across central Paris on the Rue de Rivoli, a popular shopping street. It would be the first central-city tramway, and parallel parts of the Line 1 Metro underground.
For more details from TheLocal.fr, click HERE
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