Paris – Mayor Anne Hidalgo has confirmed that ambitious plans to transform Paris’s Champs-Élysées, the iconic avenue in the heart of the French capital, are still on the table. Her initiative will have the avenue with fewer car lanes, more space for pedestrians and much more greenery.
Often referred to as ‘the most beautiful avenue in the world’, the Champs-Élysées hasn’t undergone a major overhaul for three decades, and many Parisians feel it looks tired and much less refined than it used to be.
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Once home to car showrooms and top fashion houses, the avenue is now lined with expensive cafes, large chain stores and many fast food restaurants. Locals complain about noise and pollution from the relentless traffic as the 1.2 mile rollercoaster road remains a major thoroughfare through the city. Even the gardens at the end, near Place de la Concorde, look underused and unattractive.
The Champs-Élysées Committee of local business leaders has been pushing for a makeover for years. In 2018, the committee commissioned architects PCA-Stream to make plans at each end for the avenue and surrounding areas, including the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde. Hidalgo agreed to include the plans in her reelection program last year.
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In an extensive interview with the French newspaper, she confirmed that a facelift for the avenue was still very much in her plan for years to come, Sunday newspaper, on Sunday. The committee responded quickly and welcomed the news.
In a statement, the commission noted that the avenue “had lost its splendor over the last 30 years … It was gradually abandoned by Parisians and has gone through several crises: the yellow vest [demonstrations], strikes, the pandemic, economic crisis, etc. “
The budget for the overall project is a whopping $ 305 million, but the dramatic change won’t happen right away. Hidalgo said the renovation of the Place de la Concorde will continue in the coming years, but the Champs-Élysées makeover will have to wait until 2025.
That’s partly because Paris must first complete the ambitious program already underway to get the city ready for the 2024 Olympics.
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While those plans will be scaled back due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the city is already renovating, rebuilding and restructuring not only its sports facilities, but also its roads and transport systems, and its connections to the nearby suburbs of La Défense. to the west, and Saint-Denis to the north, which should be the headquarters for all administrative operations for the Games.
“We will do the Place de la Concorde again before the Olympics, and then the full length of the avenue; it will be [another] extraordinary garden, ” Hidalgo told the newspaper last weekend.