To encourage and make walking safer in the city centre, while combating air pollution and noise pollution, the green town hall has just inaugurated two new pedestrian areas in the hypercentre.
Le Figaro Bordeaux
This is what makes it so charming. For a long time, the city center of Bordeaux has been partly pedestrianized, allowing walkers to explore the city from the shops on Rue Sainte-Catherine (one of the largest pedestrian streets in Europe) to Place des Quinconces, hardly encountering any cars. Since 2020, environmentalists have wanted to extend the restricted pedestrian areas (accessible only to residents and shopkeepers), in order to limit pollution and return the city to pedestrians. This Monday, September 2, two new neighborhoods are joining this system.
Between the town hall and Place Gambetta, nine streets have been pedestrianized since today, including Rue Bouffard and its many shops. They were already little frequented by motorists, except by those looking to park. By eliminating this through traffic, the city wants to offer passers-by safer and less polluted spaces. Four streets and a square in the hypercentre, around Cour Mably, were also pedestrianized this Monday. However, motorized vehicles are not completely banned: local residents and shopkeepers benefit from a card to permanently access these areas, as do urgent transport.
An entire neighborhood pedestrianized in 2022
In November 2022, an entire district, that of Chartrons, had already been cleared of cars. A calming project soon to be completed by the redevelopment of the Chartrons market square, with the planting of around twenty trees and the pedestrianization of two of the four surrounding streets. The new terminals installed since 2021 have reduced traffic north of Cours Victor Hugo, completing the pedestrian zone in the city center. By 2026, the city aims to reach 250 hectares of pedestrian areas, “while improving user comfort”. In the main pedestrian streets of the city centre, the town hall is also encouraging cyclists to dismount, to remind people that the most vulnerable have priority.
Pedestrian zones, greening and decarbonizing public transport are among the most effective measures that municipalities can implement to improve air quality. In France, between 40,000 and 100,000 premature deaths are attributable to air pollution each year. Fine particles, emitted by the exhaust pipes of thermal vehicles, abrasion of brakes and tires, are the main culprits, even during short exposure. Walking helps reduce the risk of dying prematurely.
City of Bordeaux
