No more transit traffic in the hypercenter of Paris: the limited traffic zone (ZTL), desired by Paris City Hall to reduce pollution, comes into force this Monday in the first four arrondissements of the capital.
This area of approximately 5.5 km2 will now be closed to vehicles that only cross it. Only emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, people with reduced mobility, motorists residing or working there will be authorized, etc. And more generally all “destination” traffic, namely those whose point of departure and arrival is located in the area (for a medical appointment, going shopping, to the cinema, etc.).
Postponed several times, the ZTL is a campaign commitment from the socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, to “liberate public space” occupied by cars and reduce pollution, as Madrid, Milan and Rome have done in their central districts.
Since the project was announced in May 2021, its perimeter has been the subject of difficult negotiations with the police headquarters.
Initially included, the districts of the left bank located between Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Seine were removed from the perimeter, as were the Îles de la Cité and Saint-Louis and the high quays of the right bank.
Paris town hall expects a “substantial” reduction in traffic volume on the busiest arteries, with – 30% on avenue de l’Opéra and – 15% on boulevard de Sébastopol, further to the east, according to the impact study it retained.
It is also counting on a reduction in noise pollution, which “will improve the daily lives of the 110,000 people living in the city center”, anticipates David Belliard, the deputy ecologist in charge of transport at Paris town hall.
The municipality plans a “first phase of education” for motorists, before a “second phase of control and fines”, with a system of resident cards and online self-declaration.
In the ranks of the opposition, right-wing elected officials denounce a measure that they consider inapplicable and which risks endangering businesses in the sector.
“It’s going to be a mess without a name, complicating the lives of residents with traffic jams on other roads,” said Aurélien Véron, spokesperson for the Changer Paris group led by Rachida Dati.
Union Capitale, the leading opposition group, is calling for a regular assessment “both on the impact of pollution and on local economic activity”.
