Valérie Pécresse asks Anne Hidalgo to “let go of her skills”

Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region, criticizes this Tuesday on RMC the passage of the ring road from 70 km/h to 50 km/h. A decision by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, which she cannot challenge in court.

The Ile-de-France region will not fight in court against the reduction in the speed limit on the Paris ring road, from 70 km/h to 50 km/h, which gradually comes into force from this Tuesday, October 1. “I will not do it because it is the responsibility of Paris town hall, which is responsible for the ring road,” confirms Valérie Pécresse on RMC. But the president of the region still denounces a measure that is “socially unjust and ecologically ineffective”.

“I try to fight with what I have, she explains. This measure almost only affects night and early morning workers. During the day, on the ring road, we drive at an average of 36 km/h. Those who drive at 70 km/h are those who drive at night We will penalize them, deprive them of precious minutes of sleep, up to 12 minutes of sleep for those who make a U-turn. is socially unjust and ecologically ineffective because it has no impact on air pollution. As for noise, it will reduce it by 2 decibels on average. Whereas if the town hall took control of the region. it could cover the device with soundproofing, a coating which would reduce the noise by up to 7 decibels.”

Proposals from the region “swept” by the town hall

The Ile-de-France region is therefore proposing to the town hall to make 50-50 on the cost of the work to change the surface of the ring road. “The real improvement in noise for local residents would require putting your hand in your pocket, having money,” underlines Valérie Pécresse. “It would cost 30 million. The region is ready to take half of it on board, 15 million and it seems fair to us that the Paris town hall pays the rest. But the real problem is that for that, we would need to have a well-managed community, which has the means to put these state-of-the-art coatings on the ring road. Obviously, the town hall does not have it and that is why it is taking a measure which is punitive and which will be very harshly felt by all these workers working irregular hours.

“The proposals were literally swept away, adds the president of the region. If the Paris town hall does not have the means to properly maintain the ring road, to build anti-noise walls, to install soundproofing coverings which would relieve the residents , that it lets go of the skills. The region is ready to take over the power of the ring road, or Ile-de-France Mobilités. It seems logical to me so that we can act to make these roads more pleasant to live in.”

“Real difference in philosophy” with Anne Hidalgo

Valérie Pécresse promises to set up a “barometer of the Paris ring road to give Ile-de-France residents, from the end of October, in complete transparency, all the data on the ring road”, such as pollution, noise, congestion, speed… “Today there is a drop in speed but in January, the Paris town hall planned to remove a lane of the ring road to allow only carpooling and taxis to drive there, recalls the elected LR. I can you tell you that there will never be a bus on this lane, because who is going to take the bus on the left lane of the ring road? In reality, we will end up with a risk of thrombosis at the gates of the ring road? ‘Ile-de-France. If we have congestion on the outskirts of Paris, we will have delays on the A86, on all the adjacent streets of the ring road. So these poor residents who we want to protect, we risk overwhelming them. cars.”

“We have a real difference in philosophy, the mayor of Paris and I,” summarizes Valérie Pécresse. “I am fighting against pollution, noise, with the most effective measures possible. The Paris town hall is in a fight against the car. But cars, when they are silent and non-polluting, when they are electric, why ban them? If you go to Shanghai, you no longer hear any noise and there is no more noise because the cars? are electric.”