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Paris to launch €3m plan to make city’s streets quieter and cooler

Paris city chiefs may soon have some good news for residents fed up with the constant noise of cars and scooters rumbling through the city's streets.

Published: 7 June 2017 14:15 CEST
Paris to launch €3m plan to make city's streets quieter and cooler
Avenue Général Leclerc will be the first testing spot for the new surfaces Photo: Google maps
Paris residents and visitors are often heard complaining about the noise from the city's streets keeping them awake at night.
 
Much of it is created by sound of car tyres rumbling over ancient cobbles or pot-holed roads.
 
But there may be a solution on the horizon. 
 
The city is to test three new road surfaces that could cut noise from traffic by as much as 50 percent. And for those that suffer in the city in summer, the state-of-the-art surfaces are also designed to reduce heat during hot periods.
 
The project, which will cost a total of €2.9m, will test road surfaces with “sound and thermal qualities and acceptable durability”, in an attempt to fight noise pollution as well as battle the effects of climate change. 
 
The surfaces are designed to refresh the air by retaining water, city authorities said on Tuesday, adding that the tests will also trial the use of different colours in bouncing back the light from the sun which could cut down on heat. 
 
Paris can be a miserable place during a heatwave due to the fact it can be 2 to 3C warmer than surrounding areas due to the extra heat created by human activities, including traffic.
 
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Photo: AFP
 
After voting in favour of an agreement with the European commission, authorities in the French capital received €1.35m of funding from the EU Life environmental programme, which goes a significant way towards financing the total cost needed to for tests to be carried out in three different locations across the city. 
 
“Pollution is a major public heath problem. Around 22 percent of Parisians are affected by noise, particularly noise from street traffic,” Célia Blauel who is in charge of environmental concerns at Paris City Hall. 
 
“As for climate change, a study appeared this weeking showing that the most dense cities could expect to see a rise in temperatures of 8C before 2100 if nothing is done to prevent it,” she added. 
 
The first street earmarked for testing is Avenue Général Leclerc in the 14th arrondissment, home to the city's famous Montparnasse district, where 400m of road will be laid with the new surface . 
 
The EU funding will be supplemented with contributions from the city of Paris and non-profit environmental organisation Bruitparif, as well as French civil engineering firm Colas and French transport company Eurovia. 
 
 
 

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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