Good news for Parisian families getting reading to go back to school… Paris city hall has announced on August 26, 2020 that areas surrounding schools will be closed to cars in order to keep pupils safe. The ecologic party already made the request for the latest municipals and it has already been implemented by the municipality that also plans to secure 80 schools by late September and 10 more by December.
How does this measure work? According to our peers from France 3, it revolves around two configurations: “areas where traffic is entirely banned to cars” on one hand, and “areas said ‘calm’ where speed is limited to 20km/h and widened sidewalks thanks to the removal of parking areas” on the other hand. So far, 30 streets by schools are now closed and 27 are “calm”. In 2021, over 300 schools will get surrounding areas devoted to pedestrians only.
“These layouts are adapted to the local context around each school” deputy mayor for transformation of the public space David Belliard explains. The implementation of this measure has been accelerated by the health crisis, and a way for the municipality to make sure health recommendations are maintained, especially social distancing, harder in some small spaces like on sidewalks.
