Residents of the Paris ring road divided over the 50km/h speed limit

Following the announcement by the Mayor of Paris to limit the ring road to 50 km/h from October 1st, local residents seem rather satisfied.

A new life for motorists, but also for local residents. From October 1st, the speed limit on the Paris ring road must be lowered to 50km/h instead of 70km/h currently. A measure that is still far from being unanimous.

Parisians are already wondering about its usefulness. “We already have quite a few traffic jams at peak times here, so I think it’s going to be a disaster,” said a passerby interviewed at the Porte de Saint-Cloud.

“I think that driving at 50 km/h pollutes more than if you can drive at a slightly higher speed,” says another.

Air pollution pointed out

But residents located near the ring road are happy about this announcement. Because every day, as soon as they open one of their windows, they are confronted with a roaring noise, that of the thousands of cars that pass by on the Paris ring road.

In his apartment, at Porte de Saint-Cloud, Michel even had to change rooms. “I was sleeping, my wife came later, she opened the window, during the night I was woken up by the noise of the ring road because it goes on all night long,” assures the local resident who has lived in this apartment for 33 years.

For local residents, another problem is added: air pollution. According to Airparif, 80% of the region’s population is affected by this double exposure. So, for this resident of Porte de Châtillon, the decision to reduce the speed on the ring road to 50km/h is good news.

“It can change our daily lives, it can do us good,” says Félicité, who hopes to be able to sit on her balcony in the future to “rest.”

The Regional Council is meeting this Wednesday, September 11. A motion of censure to “call on the Paris city hall to abandon its project” is being debated.