Paris, Nov. 1, (dpa/GNA) – In order to further reduce car traffic and create more space for cyclists and pedestrians, Paris is introducing a low-traffic zone in the city centre.
From November 4, only residents and people whose destination is within the zone are allowed to drive in the approximately 5.5-square-kilometre area between Place de la Concorde, the Seine, the Opera and Place de la République.
The measure is intended to reduce noise and harmful emissions and improve road safety, the city announced. It should also make it easier for residents, visitors with a specific destination and people with limited mobility to get around the centre of Paris by car.
Those who wish to visit a doctor, go to a restaurant or cinema, shop, visit an art gallery or go about their business in the area will also be allowed to enter the zone by car. Anyone driving a car through the zone without authorization will be fined €135 ($146.31).
The city estimates that between 350,000 and 500,000 cars currently pass through Paris every day, with a significant proportion of that “through traffic” that does not make any stops. This traffic intensifies conflicts with cyclists and pedestrians in the centre.
Paris hopes that the traffic-calming measures will reduce car traffic and traffic noise by between 7% and 30%.
The introduction is a further building block in the traffic turnaround that Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has been pushing for years.
Roads along the banks of the Seine have been closed to cars and opened to pedestrians. The number of cycle paths is increasing, new green spaces are being created and a 30 kilometre per hour speed limit has been introduced almost everywhere in the city.
At the beginning of October, the speed limit on the city motorway was reduced from 70 to 50 kilommetres per hour.
GNA