The Georges Pompidou expressway (Voie Georges-Pompidou) is a 13-kilometer route crossing Paris, France along the right bank of the Seine. It is essentially made up of expressways, except for the part going from the Tuileries tunnel to Quai Henri-IV (road on the banks to the east) which has become a pedestrian street (since 2016).
It is named after the former President of the Republic Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) who inaugurated it in 1967 when he was Prime Minister and initiated the motorway plan for Paris. [1]
History
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France's then-prime minister, Georges Pompidou, opened the 13-kilometer[2] expressway in 1967.
From 2002, part of the highway became a beach in summer, known as "Paris-Plages" and visited by 4 million people annually (as of 2007).[3][4]
Cars were banned on the left bank of the Seine in 2013 and on the right bank in 2017, after several years of experiments.[3] The removal of the car road happened under the mayors Bertrand Delanoë and Anne Hidalgo, the latter calling the process "a "reconquest" of the city for its residents.[1] This development is seen as a key example of a trend in Europe[1] and around the world[5] of cities discouraging cars from their roads.
Before the road was closed to them, 43,000 cars used the road daily.[6] While some protested against the removal of cars, the majority supported it.[3]
Sources
edit- ^ a b c "Car wars: Politicians are sending mixed signals about private car ownership. National leaders are promoting it. Local ones want to curb driving". The Economist. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ "Pompidou Expressway". Congress for the New Urbanism. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ a b c Schmitt, Angie (2016-09-28). "Adieu, Cars: Paris Riverfront to Be Permanently Returned to the People". Streets Blog USA. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ (unknown), Pierre (2021-07-19). "Paris-Plages along the River Seine". French Moments. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ Grabar, Henry (2016-09-13). "Paris Is Turning Its Central Highway Into a Park. American Cities Need to Pay Attention". Slate.com. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ Sims, Alexandra (2016-09-26). "Paris approves controversial plan to ban cars along stretch of River Seine". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-01-05.