the four major projects for the Lyon of tomorrow
2023. Barcelona at Part-Dieu
Often cited as a pioneer city in terms of road calming, Barcelona inspires beyond the Catalan borders. Lyon should soon test its concept of “superblocks”, these islands of 400 meters by 400 meters where transit traffic is banned and where entire sections of the road are pedestrian or equipped for the inhabitants (games, relaxation areas, etc. ). The only authorized cars often have to respect a very limited speed (10 or 20 km/h).
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The project should be successful in the Part-Dieu sector (between rue Garibaldi, rue Paul-Bert, boulevard Vivier-Merle and avenue Félix-Faure) so “very similar” to what is happening in Barcelona.
“It requires a lot of consultation, explains Fabien Bagnon, vice-president of the Métropole de Lyon. We must explain to the inhabitants that certain access habits will change but that they have everything to gain from it. By agreeing to make a small detour if you come to your neighborhood by car, you bring a lot of comfort: less road safety for your children, less noise, less pollution. » The Metropolis and the Town Hall of 3e expect implementation by 2023. “We need a local example to concretely show that it is possible to change habits. »
2025–2030. A pedestrian peninsula?
It is one of the flagship projects of the environmentalist majority at the head of the Metropolis and the City of Lyon since the summer of 2020. The beating heart of the capital of Gaul, the Presqu’île – which has already made the object of pedestrianization experiments during the previous mandate – should be transformed in the coming years with the aim of “appeasement”.
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While elected officials often take care not to pronounce the word “pedestrianisation”, at the risk of immediately turning motorists against them, the objective is indeed to reduce the place of the car in order to develop active modes of transport by as much more than 80% of trips to town are made other than by car. The district, which extends from the top of the Pentes de la Croix-Rousse to Perrache, is currently at the center of a consultation which allows the inhabitants to submit proposals and answer an online questionnaire.
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Two scenarios are on the table, one of which sees rue Grenette (Lyon 2nd) closed to cars, and the north of rue de la République almost entirely returned to pedestrians and soft modes. The question of the “pedestrian calming zones” concerned in the nine ineffective intervention zones (montée Saint-Sébastien, rue Émile-Zola, place Gourju, etc.) remains to be managed. Their mode is not definitively fixed: meeting areas, pedestrian areas or limited traffic areas…
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For its part, the opposition denounces a vague, poorly studied project, pointing to the risk of a “deserted peninsula”. The first developments are planned for 2023 and 2024 before a redeployment of public transport and more extensive work on public space between 2025 and 2030.
2026 and more. A new right bank of the Rhône
In parallel with the Presqu’île redevelopment project, the urban highway that crosses the right bank of the Rhône, between Perrache and the Lattre-de-Tassigny bridge, must also change its face. What to do with these 2.5 kilometers now dedicated to the car? The consultation, which ended in 2021, revealed a strong desire for a walking area and a relaxation area.
Read also on Tribune de Lyon: Lyon. How ecologists want to make cars “disappear” from the right bank of the Rhône
Several changes have already been made: removal of the hopper in front of the Hôtel-Dieu, integration of the Voie lyonnaise noh 6, creation of a clean site for public transport, etc. This colossal project, which aims to remodel the entire organization of space and to “to recreate a link with the river”, Should be spread over several terms. It will therefore be necessary to wait before a complete metamorphosis. A first phase of work is however planned for 2026. Total cost of the operation: approximately 100 million euros.
2026. Highways by bike
To facilitate the movement of bicycles, the Métropole de Lyon is piloting the implementation of a vast network of wide and secure cycle paths: the Voies lyonnaises. Over 250 kilometers, 12 lines must thus mesh the territory, in particular by nibbling space on the bitumen hitherto reserved for the car (roads and parking).
These highways for cyclists should make it possible to capitalize on the annual +14% (see +20%) of two-wheeler users in the metropolis. Above all, they must encourage the movement of residents living far from the city centre. It is a question of encouraging the inhabitants of the first and second crowns to go from their home to their work on a continuous and secure space, in particular the non-cyclists who would drop their car.
Last July, the first kilometer was completed on Route noh 1 (Vaulx-en-Velin – Saint-Fons) and work should be accelerated over the next few years. A realization much too slow for lovers of bicycles, who are getting impatient. On September 16, the association La Ville à Vélo carried out a punchy action by itself deploying a lane with panels and markings on the ground between Bron and Lyon 5e. “The progressive developments, notes Frédérique Bienvenue, co-president of the association. But they progress more slowly than the number of cyclists. »
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