Paris may soon have 1,000 car-free streets

In recent years, a lot has changed as far as mobility goes in the City of Lights. Under the influence of mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris has become less focused on cars, instead prioritising the comfort of pedestrians and other softer forms of transport. Even though Hidalgo won’t be a candidate in the next elections, one man in particular wants to respect her legacy and go even further, creating a total of 1,000 car-free streets in the city.

Paris’ next municipal elections are scheduled for 2026. With Hidalgo having announced she won’t run for mayor, bets are on for who will take her seat. Some of those who are ready to step in her shoes are Rémi Féraud – supported by Hidalgo herself – and Emmanuel Grégoire, former first deputy of Hidalgo.

Both are clearly focusing on soft mobility in their election campaigns. Féraud has already announced he wants to extend the so-called Limited Traffic Zone, which at the moment just applies to the city centre, to the entirety of Paris. The measure is meant to limit traffic but also pollution, which remains a tricky point.

Grégoire however estimates those measures won’t be sufficient and instead wants to increase the number of car-free streets in Paris. The city counts a total of 6,500 streets and he wants to turn 1,000 of them into car-free roads by the end of his mandate. In order to obtain that goal, he would install a separate calendar for each arrondissement in Paris, allowing to address eventual difficulties individually. 

Grégroire also took to Twitter to strengthen his plan, showing what a car-free street can look like compared to a street lined with cars. “Before and after of the Rue du Docteur Paquelin in the 20^th arrondissement. A former parking street transformed into a car-free road. A picture of this street in its current street has recently gone viral and on Reddit especially there was talk of the picture being edited by AI because Google Street View isn’t up to date”, he wrote.

Avant / Après Rue du Docteur Paquelin dans le 20ème arrondissement de Paris. Une rue parking convertie en rue piétonne végétalisée. Une photo de cette rue dans l'état actuel est devenue virale, et sur Reddit notamment plusieurs parlèrent d'IA car Street View n'est pas à jour. pic.twitter.com/MvxD9s8YON

— Emmanuel (@EmmanuelSPV) October 10, 2024

Since the beginning of her mandate, Hidalgo has done a lot to make Paris a greener city. Part of the Seine river banks were pedestrianised and throughout the city, over 200 streets were turned into car-free roads – a number she wants to increase by 2026. Just this Autumn, the Limited Traffic Zone went into effect, a highly monitored zone with many travel restrictions.