Limited traffic in the Marais: doctors are also fed up

A lot has been said and written about traffic in Paris. Let's face it: it's hard to form an opinion. On the one hand, criticizing the excesses of the anti-car policy risks making you look like a dangerous reactionary. On the other, agreeing with the city hall can quickly turn you into a caricature of a Parisian "bobo", insensitive to the problems of certain shopkeepers and elderly people from outside the neighborhood who would like to access it.

But when home caregivers such as SOS Médecins sound the alarm by stating that "traffic in central Paris is hell!", we have to listen carefully. Interviewed by Le Parisien, a general practitioner at the Paris Emergency Medical Services for fifteen years explains that "for the past two or three years" his work has become "more and more difficult". "We can no longer move around, there is no more tolerance and we can't park," adds the practitioner.

In the same article, another adds: "I had to abandon an elderly couple who couldn't get around, whose only inconvenience was living on Rue de Rivoli (1st arrondissement), because I couldn't get there anymore. According to her, "traffic has become completely crazy in Paris" with "lots of fines" received". Including from doctors who deplore the reduction in the number of parking spaces, the increase in one-way streets and repeated fines.

Since November, the first four arrondissements have been designated as "ZTL", or Limited Traffic Zone. This involves prohibiting unauthorized vehicles (delivery drivers, repairers, workers, restaurant customers, residents, etc.) from passing through the center of Paris. Starting in May 2025, offenders will be fined. No quarter, then!

At the Hôtel de Ville, some want to go further, Le Parisien also tells us. Dauphin dubbed by Anne Hidalgo and president of the majority group on the Paris Council, the socialist candidate Rémi Féraud explained that he wanted to "transform all the districts of Paris into a limited traffic zone". "Every district of Paris must benefit from this new approach to car traffic. If it is possible in Paris Centre, it is possible everywhere in Paris", adds the man who is the rival of another socialist, Emmanuel Grégoire.

Aurélien Véron, elected representative of Paris Centre and spokesperson for the opposition group Changer Paris (Rachida Dati), is for his part circumspect about the "ZTL" which must give rise to checks in order to determine who has the right to circulate or not: "How will 20 municipal police officers from Paris Centre check 500 vehicles per day in Paris Centre?", he responds to Le Parisien.

It is not impossible that car traffic will become the major issue in the municipal elections of March 2025. In the Marais, 180 shopkeepers and residents grouped together in an Instagram group ztl.paris are contesting the implementation of the "ZTL" which they consider "catastrophic for their businesses".

In Montmartre, the new traffic restriction measures are also giving rise to a revolt between some local residents and the town hall. After having pedestrianized the area around the Sacré-Cœur, the 18th arrondissement town hall is doing the same at the foot of the hill.

The traffic diversion requires a forced detour of more than 800 m and causes an unusual influx of vehicles, traffic jams and honking of horns on Avenue Junot. The Vivre à Montmartre association has filed a summary judgment to obtain a freeze on the new traffic measures.