There is a tense battle around the ring road. The Paris City Hall is determined to lower the speed on this road surrounding the capital from 70 to 50 km/h, despite the opposition of the government, expressed on October 7th by the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune.
“I confirm that we will lower the speed,” declared Paris Deputy Mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, at a press conference, emphasizing that a mayor “can, within the scope of his police powers, reduce the speed for reasons of safety or environment.”
Clément Beaune detailed the opposition of the state to the municipality’s project, which plans to implement the speed limit after the 2024 Olympics. “I think it is not a good idea in the short term to have this speed limit” and “at the end of 2024, we will not make the decision, we will not validate it,” he explained on Franceinfo.
The new speed limit aims to streamline traffic on this heavily congested axis, encouraging Parisians to avoid “automobility” and to take public transportation. Its main objective is to reduce pollution and noise nuisances, especially at night, for the 500,000 people who live nearby, often in working-class neighborhoods, according to Paris City Hall.
The maximum speed allowed on this 35-kilometer ring road, which has surrounded the capital since 1973, was already reduced from 90 km/h to 80 km/h in 1993, then to 70 km/h in 2014. Since 2021, the speed has been limited to 30 km/h in most of the streets.
While the ring road “is managed by the City of Paris,” a change in speed limits requires “obviously a validation from the State,” pointed out Mr. Beaune, however, he said he is “open” to the idea of a reserved lane. “I think that a reserved lane is a good thing,” he noted. But if, at the same time, the speed limit were reduced to 50 km/h, “I think that you will make people crazy,” he continued.
Paris City Hall had announced at the end of November its intention to limit the speed on the ring road after the 2024 Olympics, in addition to reserving one lane for carpooling. The ring road, one of the main urban highways in Europe, is used daily by 1.2 million vehicles, mostly Parisians, with 80% traveling with only the driver as the occupant.
