Lyons. Avenue des Frères Lumière will be pedestrianized every Saturday, parking removed
By Nicholas Zaugra
Published on
Have the elected officials yielded to the “noisy majority”? Avenue des Frères Lumières in the 8th arrondissement of Lyons will not be completely pedestrianized as feared by some traders in this very lively artery. The Town Hall and the Metropolis had in any case denied any desire to radically abolish the car.
The pedestrian Avenue only on Saturdays
By 2026, the date of the end of avenue redevelopment workthis major commercial artery will be pedestrian only on Saturdays, announced the EELV mayor of the borough Olivier Berzane.
“14,000 pedestrians pass each Saturday on the avenue and it will be much more after the work” which leads to the removal of parking spaces, an enlargement of the sidewalks and the planting of trees in a street devoid of vegetation.
“We heard that there is opposition to the total pedestrianization of the avenue”, conceded the elected official during a very lively public meeting Thursday evening. The Metropolis of Lyon and the City communicated the results of the consultation.
“Cars could drive on Avenue des Frères Lumières five days a week (…) The proportion of shop customers who will no longer come by car will be minimal”, tried to reassure the borough mayor by citing the examples “ successes” from Dijon and Besançon.
74 fewer parking spaces
Among the decisions made, the removal of 74 parking spaces in front of shops from the Manufacture des Tabacs to Place Ambroise Courtois where additional trees will be planted. Parking spaces will be removed on the west side of the square.
” This is only 7% of parking lots in the sector where there are 1,000 spaces“, replied the mayor. “There was the same debate when the square was transformed, it was a 200-space car park at the time,” according to Olivier Berzane.
The project provides for the preservation only of places for deliveries and people with reduced mobility, in connection with equipment and shops.
Mobility assistant Valentin Lungenstrass confirmed that the sidewalks will be widened, the cycle facilities possibly separated from traffic, the intersections better secured. “Our desire is to reduce air pollution,” replied Fabien Bagnon, vice-president of Greater Lyon in charge of soft mobility.
Traders still divided
The president of the merchants of Mon Plaisir believes that he has not been “completely heard”, ensuring that the professionals of the district “are not opposed to the whole project”. “We still have fears about the accessibility and visibility of shops, there are 20,000 inhabitants in the district and only 300 participants in the consultation”, regretted the trader.
![Shopkeepers opposed the proposed redevelopment of Avenue des Frères Lumières in Lyon.](https://static.actu.fr/uploads/2022/10/commercants-8e-arrondissement-lyon.jpeg)
The director of Carrefour Market, 75 employees, estimates that 18% of his customers come by car and still fears a drop in turnover.
Valentin Lungenstrass and Olivier Berzane tried to call for calm in the face of rising tensions between “pro-appeasement” residents of the neighborhood and shopkeepers critical of the project.
The the work should start at the end of 2024 and be completed in the spring of 2026. “During the works, we will do everything to minimize their impact”, promises the mayor of the 8th. Project cost: 5 million euros.
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