Only five of them, one of which is reserved for pedestrians, will remain open to traffic in the heart of Paris before the opening ceremony on July 26.
Published on 03/06/2024 at 5:54 PM, updated on 03/06/2024 at 6:37 PM. Reading time: 2 min.
Sports performances will take place on the bridges along the route of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“The big challenge will begin on July 1st” to circulate in the capital, admitted Laurent Nuñez, the prefect of police of Paris, on Wednesday, March 6th. This warning came after his hearing at the Senate to present the security plan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the two-hour presentation, he, along with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, outlined the plan to close the bridges in Paris crossing the Seine, where the opening ceremony will take place on July 26. Several of them will be closed at the beginning of July to prepare for the event.
“We have a concentration of closures between the Iéna bridge and the Austerlitz bridge,” described Gérald Darmanin. Only five of them will remain open to traffic: a section of the Iéna bridge, the Invalides bridge, the Notre-Dame bridge, the Sully bridge, and the pedestrian footbridge Léopold-Sédar-Senghor.
“It was essential to plan thoroughfares crossing the Seine that are left free for us by the Olympic Committee,” specified the capital’s police prefect. Motorists will have to take these four bridges or those “located at the extreme west or east” to cross to the right bank or left bank. On the day of the opening ceremony, all Parisian bridges will be closed, however.
Fourteen closed bridges
The other fourteen bridges in central Paris, which will host artistic or security devices as well as grandstands, will be gradually closed to proceed with the assembly of the various installations starting from July 1st, leading to significant traffic restrictions.
At the beginning of July, the Carrousel bridge and a section of the Iéna bridge occupied by the Cojo will be neutralized. Eight days later, it will be the turn of the Alma bridge, the Tournelle bridge, and the Change bridge to be closed. Finally, on July 15, the Concorde bridge, the Royal bridge, and the Arcole bridge will be closed to traffic.
The closure dates of the remaining five bridges (Pont Alexandre III, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, Pont d’Austerlitz, and Passerelle Debilly) have not yet been communicated by the prefecture of police of Paris.
