In Paris, a project to “re-enchant” the Champs-Élysées, the “most beautiful avenue in the world”, was presented on Monday May 27. On the program: more green spaces for walkers, more bikes and fewer cars.
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The objective is clear: to reconcile Parisians with the Champs-Élysées. In a few decades, the avenue had become unloved by residents and considered too expensive, too luxurious, too noisy, too polluted.
The authors of the report, with 400 supporting maps, therefore propose to transform the avenue from A to Z. And this starts with the place given to soft mobility by reducing from 6 to 4 the number of lanes reserved for automobile traffic .
The cycle paths will be doubled and the sidewalks widened by 13%. The other major axis of transformation is to adapt the Champs-Élysées to warming to make it a “climate refuge”. Plant rooms of 150 m² will punctuate the avenue, and 160 additional trees will be planted. The surface area of permeable soil will increase by 120% and the gardens at the bottom of the artery will be transformed into a real park, like the Luxembourg Gardens.
On paper, the project seems attractive. It now remains to be seen who will finance this transformation. No start date for the work has yet been planned, although the total cost of the project is estimated at 250 million euros.
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