War against cars resumes with greater intensity in Paris amid the coronavirus pandemic… Anne Hidalgo explained in an interview with the AFP that she was against cars to “take over” Paris again after confinement. “I will be against Paris to be stormed by cars, synonym of pollution” she says, as reported by Le Figaro.
She adds that what frightens her the most is the pollution/coronavirus combo that could wreak havoc in the most fragile people: “pollution mixed with Covid-19 is extremely dangerous” she says. Her target? Rue de Rivoli, among others, where far too many cars drive, she says. “I wish there is a road only devoted to bikes and another one only for buses, cabs, emergency cars and artisans’ vehicles, but no longer cars” she explains.
She continues: “We will be able to bike from East to West. The Avenue Foch will be fit and will then turn to the Porte Maillot. We are working with Neuilly-sur-Seine mayor Jean-Christophe Fromantin so that a bikeway extension is set up to La Défense”. A long road, as many others, that could be entirely for bikes, excluding public transit, delivery drivers and other motorized motorbikes, unless otherwise stated.
A genuine will to eliminate cars from May 11th, said to be the beginning of deconfinement with police controls “to avoid any jam in the city”. She says they are also working on “fitting new park-and-ride facilities at the gates of Paris linked to the bikeway network”. A transit solution that the government wishes to highlight for the post-confinement life, with the reopening of bike stores, as well as a grant for bikers, cities and departments wishing to set up bikeways. A 20-million-euro grant for “bicycle commuters” has been announced this past April 30th.
