Several elected officials from the municipal majority, led by Patrick Bloche, Anne Hidalgo’s new first deputy, supported their “public health” measure. At the same time, the region voted on a motion calling on the city hall to “give up”.
It is 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 11. In the offices of the Île-de-France regional council, elected officials are adopting a motion against the city of Paris’s plan to lower the speed limit on the ring road to 50 km/h and are calling for the regionalization of the axis.
At the same time, the Parisian executive is sharpening its weapons. Patrick Bloche, the new first deputy (PS) of Anne Hidalgo, surrounded by four other deputies and two district mayors, is organizing a trip to the roundabout at Porte de Vincennes, a stone’s throw from the Hypercasher, to counterattack.
At this border between the 12th, the 20th and Vincennes, the noise and smells of exhaust pipes are loud and incessant. “I hope that the noise from the ring road will not interfere with understanding what we are saying,” Patrick Bloche says to the journalists present, including BFM Paris Île-de-France.
Not enough consultations?
According to the Paris city hall, the reduction in speed on the ring road is a “public health” measure for the 500,000 residents who live nearby. In terms of air pollution, road safety, but especially noise pollution.
“These are first of all reasons linked to what the ring road generates, that is to say both a factor of air pollution and obviously noise pollution,” recalls the first deputy. “There is a road safety issue that no one can deny. There are fewer accidents at 50 km/h than at 70 km/h as every time we limit the speed,” he continues on BFM Paris Île-de-France.
After announcing the implementation of this new speed limit, criticism of the measure and the municipal majority has been rife.
This Wednesday morning, the Parisian executive therefore returned point by point to the criticisms made, in particular by the region or the police prefect. “We are not in an anti-car approach. The automobile must adapt to the comfort of life that people want,” assures Patrick Bloche.
According to the Paris police prefecture, the “planned consultations were not completed”. False according to the majority.
“The reasons have been in the public debate for a long time because there was, contrary to what we can read here and there, a consultation that dates back to 2018. There was an information and evaluation mission from the Paris council,” assures Anne Hidalgo’s first deputy.
And to add: there were the ring road workshops, which notably involved neighboring municipalities.”
The question of legality
On the question of legality, the need or not for a government decree arises. Since a law of February 2017 which concerns the status of Paris, the competence therefore falls to the mayor. But several lawyers specializing in road law had doubts because the last speed reduction, which dates from January 2014, was decided by a decree of Prime Minister Manuel Valls. However, in the hierarchy of standards, the orders taken by Anne Hidalgo as mayor are inferior to the government decrees.
“All this will be done in compliance with the law. I understand that a government decree would be needed, as in 2014. Since then, from a legal point of view, there has been a case law in 2015 from a decision of the Council of State. And above all, a law in 2017 which transferred authorities and competence to the mayor of Paris, particularly in matters of police authority, traffic, and parking,” explains Patrick Bloche.
And he added: “This is the reason why we consider, and this is done in ongoing discussions with the police prefect, that the mayor of Paris is justified from a legal point of view within a legal framework in taking an order to reduce the speed limit.”
From then on, Parisian elected officials are wondering about a potential intervention by Laurent Nuñez. “Can you imagine the police prefect not respecting the law?” asks David Belliard, environmentalist deputy for Mobility. “There is a strong but classic guerrilla warfare in questions of public health and ecology.”
He reminds us, once again, that the measure is part of an improvement in the lives of residents in the immediate vicinity. “It will be extremely effective in improving the comfort of residents at night. That is to say, simply being able to sleep,” he reminds us on BFM Paris Île-de-France.
Before launching an attack on the region: “I am stunned to see the text of the region which renounces something which will nevertheless improve the health of our fellow citizens.”
Soundproofing coatings?
For its part, the region has also sought solutions to limit noise. One proposal has been made several times: the installation of soundproofing coatings. Valérie Pécresse has said she is ready to finance half of it with the city of Paris. But since 2012, the city of Paris has already installed them on the ring road. But according to the regional president, they now need to be renewed.
“More than half of the ring road benefits from it, and it cost 17 million euros. That’s also why we see its limits. We want to go further in reducing noise pollution by reducing the maximum speed, particularly at night!” assures David Belliard on his X account.
“We are calling for reason. From experience, independent agencies have said so. The soundproofing coating reduces, but it reduces noise very modestly,” David Belliard also reminds us. “It’s a sticking plaster on a wooden leg. These are not radical measures,” Patrick Bloche also criticizes.
The outcry against the reduction in speed is seen by the Parisian executive in the same way as that caused by the closure of the riverbank lanes.
“It’s the same problem,” Patrick Bloche assures on BFM Paris Île-de-France. “Should we adapt the city to the car as has been done for decades? Where should the place of the car be made more restricted?”, he asks.
On the side of those most concerned, the residents closest to the 35 km axis, used by a million motorists every day, the measure is well received. “It can change our daily lives, it can do us good”, believes Félicité, who hopes to be able to sit on her balcony in the future to “rest”. For the moment, on October 1, motorists will have to take their foot off the ring road.
Nicolas Dumas and Martin Regley
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