Motorists, prepare for complicated weeks. As this summer’s big Olympic event approaches, road traffic in Paris is getting tough. Axes are closing, one by one, to allow the organization of the Paris 2024 Games to erect ephemeral stadiums in which athletes from around the world will shine from the end of July. From today, Le Parisien offers you a daily morning update on traffic in the capital.
According to the various software programs that monitor traffic conditions in real time, the Grands Boulevards are experiencing significant slowdowns this Thursday morning, between Place de la République and Richelieu-Drouot. Progression along the banks of the Seine is not easy either, with certain portions where “traffic is at a standstill”, we can observe on the Waze application. Quai Saint-Bernard in particular as well as near the Tuileries gardens, and especially south of Place de la Concorde (quai des Tuileries and Cour la Reine).
This has been the black spot, for several days, in inner Paris. And for good reason, the square is largely closed to traffic to allow the construction of the Urban Park, this set of four stadiums which will host the new disciplines of the Olympic program (3 x 3 basketball, BMX, breaking and skateboarding). Since May 17, the North-South axis has been closed to road and pedestrian traffic.
And this is not going to get better since from June 1, “Place de la Concorde will be entirely closed to traffic,” recalled the police headquarters this Wednesday. “A dedicated traffic system will be put in place,” adds the police authority. Also since May 17, road traffic has also been closed on the Alexandre III bridge and Avenue Gallieni, in the 7th arrondissement.
A heavy goods vehicle set on fire at Porte de Bagnolet
A highlight of this Thursday morning was the closure of the inner ring road near Porte de Bagnolet due to a heavy goods vehicle fire. The firefighters intervened shortly before 8 a.m. using a high-powered foam van, the firefighters said. The smoke was visible for miles around. A return to normal is expected a little before 9:30 a.m.
Other segments are in red this Thursday morning, starting with the western entrance to Paris at Porte Maillot, towards Avenue de la Grande Armée. Difficulties are also to be noted around the Porte de Saint-Cloud with congested roads: the ring road, rue Guynemer, rue de la Porte d’Issy and boulevard Victor-Hugo, approaching the Parc des Expositions where the VivaTech show takes place from May 22 to 25.
Finally, access to the City of Light from the south will not be easy with, here too, the very busy A6 and A4 motorways in the direction of Paris. At 8:15 a.m., the Sytadin website reported more than 300 km of cumulative traffic jams on the roads of Île-de-France.
