It is a new arm wrestling that engages between the City of Paris and the police headquarters. While Emmanuel Grégoire, the 1st deputy mayor of Paris presented this Thursday the contours and the calendar of the future “peaceful zone” in the center of Paris, the prefect of police reacted quickly. “The prefect of police does not validate the limited traffic zone project in the center of Paris as it stands”, writes the Paris police headquarters in a press release.
During his presentation, Emmanuel Grégoire indicated that an impact study would be carried out with the police headquarters before the establishment of this zone in 2024. “To date, the prefect of police has not been seized of a specific file including in particular the impacts of this measure on the flow of vehicles and traffic reports taking into account all the developments made or planned”, responds the police headquarters regrets “unilateral announcement effects”.
But as it stands, the prefect does not validate the project, highlighting the risks of “difficulties for the movement of emergency and police services on the outskirts of the area”. She “could also have a negative impact on the economic activity of the capital“. The prefect of police, if he expresses reservations about the project as such, does not say he is opposed in principle to limited traffic zones and says he is ready to “continue discussions with the town hall”.
The prefect of police is not the only one to criticize the project. The law is strongly against it. She denounces “anti-car measure under the guise of fighting pollution”. “The ZTL makes no sense if it increases Paris congestion and the CO2 emissions that go with it!”writes the ChangerParis group in a press release.