Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Wednesday, during a presentation of the capital’s 2024-2030 climate plan, that the city planned to lower the speed limit on the Paris ring road to 50km/h – dropping from the current 70km/h.

This change is expected to come into force in September 2024, following the Olympic Games. However, the City of Paris told Le Parisien that the exact date remains to be confirmed.

Local authorities explained that the goal in reducing speed limits by 20km is to “meet major environmental challenges of today and tomorrow”, according to French daily Le Parisien.

This is not the first time Paris has lowered the speed limit – in 2014, it was dropped from 80km/h to 70 km/h.

Dan Lert, the Green party deputy mayor in charge of ecological transition for the city of Paris, said during the press conference that “we are making progress on the transformation of the ring road by introducing carpool lanes, as well as the 50km speed limit”.

Lert also invoked the city’s objective to improve air quality, including efforts to reduce the number of cars on the roads. “Fewer cars means less pollution. In 10 years, we’ve seen a 30 percent reduction in fine particles and a 45 percent reduction in road-traffic-related nitrogen dioxide, which is good, but still too much,” he said.

The deputy also estimated that approximately 10,000 and 20,000 Parisians “are over-exposed to air pollution”. 

Paris’ ring road is already expected to undergo some changes in the months ahead. Prior to the Olympics, the city plans to create an ‘Olympic lane’ intended to be reserved for officials and athletes during the Games. It will later be turned into a carpool and public transport lane.

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