The Île-de-France Noise Observatory carried out a study on noise pollution coming from sirens and horns in the 17th arrondissement of Paris using noise sensors. The investigation will be extended to other districts of the capital. Next summer, anti-honking radars will be installed.
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“Between the prison convoys which bring the detainees to the courthouse and all the official convoys of ministers, the President, ambassadors, diplomats who pass with the bikers with sirens blaring. It's enormous! And it creates quite incredible traffic jams“, Phillipe, real estate agent, does not hide his exasperation.
Philippe's agency is located on Boulevard Malesherbes, just opposite a building where two years ago “a jellyfish”, a sound measurement sensor, was installed by bruit parif, lNoise observatory in Île-de-France.
In this district near the gates of Clichy and Asnières, an area close to the Paris judicial court, this sensor tracked and recorded all unwanted noises coming from particularly intense road traffic.
In line of sight: sirens and horns. The results of this sound evaluation showed first of all that 44% of ambient noise emanated from sirens, and 10% from horns.
“For example, we characterized that there were on average 90 sirens per day. Which represents a cumulative duration of almost 30 minutes of sirens if we put them end to end”specifies Fanny Mietlicki, director of Bruitparif.
“Sometimes we especially have ambulances which use two sirens at the same time: their classic siren and then an American siren to be spotted and that is a double whammy for local residents”
Fanny Mietlicki, director of Bruitparif.
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The data produced by this study also allows us to know more about the origin of these sound sources. And statistically speaking, the prize for noise produced by sirens goes to the national police. “We have a lot of sirens from penitentiary vehicles: 72%. Afterwards, we have 13% of sirens which are more firefighter type and then 5% of SAMU, 5% of ambulances and 5% of gendarmerie.” details the director de Bruitparif.
To conduct this study, Bruitparif worked in conjunction with the town hall of the 17th arrondissement, which has had a local noise control committee since April 1, 2022. The mayor (LR) Geoffroy Boulard which has already undertaken a first experiment in the fight against noise pollution with the SNCF, intends to rely on this study to raise awareness among the State authorities in the name, he says, of public health.
The Bruitparif data was therefore transmitted to the police prefect who asked his services for a plan to reduce noise pollution. A meeting was held shortly afterwards with the police headquarters, the ambulance crews and the prison administration, reports the councilor.
“The Paris firefighters gave us an update on the progress of replacing their fleet of vehicles with sirens which are adapted and which are less loud. On the police side, a circular was sent to all civil servants, in particular from the judicial police, specialized units (…) which cross our district to go to the Paris court.”
As for the prison officers, “They clearly told us that if there was a greater perception of noise by residents of Boulevard Malesherbes – Asnières gate sector, it is because they had this new constraint to use their siren more since the attack on a prison van in Incarville in May 2024”, says Geoffroy Boulard.
Next March, Bruitparif will reinstall two sensors in the 17th to measure the evolution of the noise situation in the neighborhood, three years after its first study. In support of this new data, the mayor of the district plans new meetings with public authorities, “an action plan”. And in particular in the summer of 2025, the installation of speed cameras which will penalize the abuse of horns.
The pioneering study of the Porte d'Asnières, unprecedented in France according to Bruitparif, will also be carried out in four other districts of the capital. In a sector crossed by an axis which goes from Necker hospital to Salpêtrière hospital. Sound sensors will be installed next year on the boulevards of Montparnasse, Port-Royal and Saint-Marcel.
“Between Necker and Salpêtrière, the army hospital, Cochin which is not far away, there are a lot of hospitals, therefore ambulances, SAMU passing by, but also convoys of officials on Boulevard du Montparnasse. We are close to the ministries”, explains Fanny Mietlicki.
During the last Paris Council, elected officials voted for a grant of 20,000 euros to finance this new study.
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