Paris: Champs-Elysées to go car-free on Sunday
The Local France/AFP - [email protected]
Published: 2 Sep, 2016 CET.
Updated: Fri 2 Sep 2016 17:16 CET
One of the most famous avenues in the world - the Champs-Elysées in Paris - is set to be pedestrianized on Sunday, September 4th.
It's part of what was meant to be a monthly series of car-free days, but which was actually cancelled in August due to heightened security measures.
But this month's day is to go ahead as planned, the government said in a statement on Friday.
The road will be open to pedestrians from 7am to 8pm.
There will also be a drone festival for anyone keen to see some high-flying action. It will see drone enthusiasts racing their wares at speeds of up to 130km, and will be help between Rue Lincold and Avenue George V between 2pm and 6.30pm.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said in the past that the experience will be repeated on the first Sunday of every month, partly to "bring Parisians back to this emblematic place which belongs to them" and partly to reduce pollution.
Sunday stroll on the Champs Elysées. No cars just a sea of people. Why not make this a weekly event @Anne_Hidalgo ? pic.twitter.com/6Fjn11AokL
— The Local France (@TheLocalFrance) September 27, 2015
The boulevard attracts an average of 300,000 visitors every day, including many tourists. Vast crowds gather there for special occasions, when the road is also closed to traffic, including for New Year celebrations
Hidalgo, a Socialist, has made fighting the smog that periodically shrouds the French capital one of her top priorities.
The World Health Organization says fine-particle air pollution is responsible for about 42,000 premature deaths in France each year.
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It's part of what was meant to be a monthly series of car-free days, but which was actually cancelled in August due to heightened security measures.
But this month's day is to go ahead as planned, the government said in a statement on Friday.
The road will be open to pedestrians from 7am to 8pm.
There will also be a drone festival for anyone keen to see some high-flying action. It will see drone enthusiasts racing their wares at speeds of up to 130km, and will be help between Rue Lincold and Avenue George V between 2pm and 6.30pm.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said in the past that the experience will be repeated on the first Sunday of every month, partly to "bring Parisians back to this emblematic place which belongs to them" and partly to reduce pollution.
Sunday stroll on the Champs Elysées. No cars just a sea of people. Why not make this a weekly event @Anne_Hidalgo ? pic.twitter.com/6Fjn11AokL
— The Local France (@TheLocalFrance) September 27, 2015
The boulevard attracts an average of 300,000 visitors every day, including many tourists. Vast crowds gather there for special occasions, when the road is also closed to traffic, including for New Year celebrations
Hidalgo, a Socialist, has made fighting the smog that periodically shrouds the French capital one of her top priorities.
The World Health Organization says fine-particle air pollution is responsible for about 42,000 premature deaths in France each year.
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