David Belliard wants to pedestrianize 100 hectares by 2030

A new urban redevelopment project, called “Paris, Pedestrian Priority!», was unveiled this Friday, November 17 by the City of Paris with the aim of improving walking conditions in the capital. DL plan includes various measures which will be put to a vote at the next Paris Council in December.

The main objective of this plan is to offer more space, safety, comfort, and more shaded areas for pedestrians. Among the announcements, we note the desire to pedestrianize 100 hectares by 2030, to extend the duration of pedestrian lights on avenues, and to replace missing street signs. In an interview with Le Parisien, David Belliard, deputy (EELV) at the City of Paris in charge of transport, underlines the importance that the town hall wishes to give to walking with this new pedestrian plan. “Walking is free, zero emissions, zero noise, good for your health but it is also, we see it every time we walk, good for local commerce, argues the elected EELV. It is therefore a major priority – which has been very much forgotten for decades in favor of all-cars – on which we wish to accelerate.”

“Today, we want to affirm the reversal of orders of priority. We did it with cycling, we will continue to do it very strongly with walking in all the development projects that we are going to carry out.“, David Belliard still assumes.

300 million euros

The new plan, with a substantial budget of 300 million euros, has three major axes. The first axis aims to increase the space dedicated to pedestrians, with the ambitious objective of creating 100 hectares of pedestrian spaces by 2030, including a pedestrian core in each district. Either, praises David Belliard, “the equivalent of 140 football fields”noting that “30 ha” would have already been “rendered” to pedestrians “with streets with schools, new squares, widening of sidewalks”.

The second axis focuses on the quality, comfort and safety of pedestrians, with measures such as removing cycle lanes on sidewalks and increasing the time allocated to pedestrians at red lights to cross, “taking the speed of elderly people as a reference”. The plan also plans to replace missing street signss, with the participation of Parisians who will be invited to list those that are missing from the application in Ma Rue.

Faced with growing concerns related to pedestrian safety, particularly due to conflicts with cyclists, the City of Paris seeks to establish conditions for harmonious cohabitation between all users. A Street Code, including 50 measures to improve safety and respect for the priority of pedestrians, was adopted, with a reinforced commitment to the control and fines of offenders.

Finally, the third axis concerns the development of pedestrian spaces taking into account climatic issues, by promoting the “vegetation” of sidewalks and the installation of fountains to provide shaded areas.