la qualité de l’air s’est améliorée autour des boulevards à une voie, selon une étude
On the Boulevard du Président-Wilson, in Bordeaux, the white markings of the new bicycle and bus lane still leave yellow traces protruding from the time when it was temporary. These new arrangements, called “coronapistes”, were put in place after the first confinement in May 2020, then perpetuated later. The Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine air quality observatory draws an initial assessment of the impact of these one-lane boulevards on pollution. According to this study, all pollutants are down 2 to 14% around the boulevards for the year 2020, without taking into account the drop in traffic due to confinement. This concerns both the nitrogen dioxide emitted by the exhaust pipes and the resulting fine particles.
The study is not based on field surveys but on models carried out by Atmo software, over an area stretching from Bordeaux-Lac to the left bank quays in the south. It’s a big party the decrease in traffic (between 12 and 28%), thanks to this reduction in lanes reserved for cars, which had an impact “overall positive on the quality of the air breathed”. “On the other hand, we have also observed an increase on nearby axes, since there may have been traffic reports and a displacement of pollution”, explains Benoit Duval, engineer at Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
If we look at the overall picture, we realize that this action of reserving a lane for buses and cyclists has a general positive impact. – Benoit Duval, engineer at Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine
“As soon as we reduce a road axis in terms of the number of passing vehicles, we will greatly reduce pollution at this location”, continues the engineer. “Especially since the axis of the boulevards is a very busy place, so obviously we expect there to be a drop in the exposed population.” Moreover, still according to Atmo’s study, nearly one in two inhabitants around the boulevards saw its air quality is improving thanks to last year’s improvements.
A different feeling for the inhabitants
Positive consequences that few users or residents of the boulevards have felt. When Anne, who has lived here for ten years, learns of this study on the drop in pollution, it is “make laugh”. “I’m a little bit surprised”, she continues. “There are cars in front of the house all the time, they stagnate without being able to move around. So it makes traffic jams …” “In the car, you don’t have the impression that there is less pollution”, confirms Muriel, who has just parked. And yet, according to Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine, these caps are misleading. “This aspect has been taken into account but what is predominant is above all the fact of reducing the number of vehicles passing on an axis”, detail Benoit Duval.
Some residents have noticed a difference since the provision of one of the two lanes for buses and bicycles. “There is less of this black dust that we had on furniture before”Caroline admits. “And by bike, there is not a common measure. We do not breathe quite like in the city center but we feel that the air is cleaner.” The air quality observatory in the region also has a model by imagining this lane reserved for buses and bicycles on all the boulevards. In this precise case, the reductions in pollutants could go up to 10%.