Paris – Mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed that ambitious plans to transform the Champs-Élysées de Paris, the iconic avenue in the heart of the French capital, are still on the table. Your initiative will see the avenue with fewer lanes, more space for pedestrians and much more green.
Often dubbed “the most beautiful avenue in the world,” the Champs-Élysées has gone through three decades without major renovation, and many Parisians believe it looks tired and much less sophisticated than before.
PCA-Stream
Once home to car showrooms and fashion houses, the avenue is now filled with expensive cafes, large chain stores and many fast food restaurants. Residents complain about the noise and pollution of relentless traffic, as the eight-lane, 1.2-mile avenue remains the city’s main artery. Even the gardens at the end, near the Place de la Concorde, seem underused and uninviting.
The Champs-Élysées Committee of local business leaders has been pushing for a makeover for several years. In 2018, the Committee instructed the architects of PCA-Stream to make plans for the avenue and its surroundings, including the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde, at each end. Hidalgo agreed to include the plans in his reelection manifesto last year.
PCA-Stream
She confirmed that the renovation of the avenue was still in her plans for the next few years in an extensive interview with a French newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, on Sunday. The Committee responded quickly, welcoming the news.
In a note, the committee noted that the avenue “had lost its splendor in the last 30 years … It was gradually abandoned by Parisians and suffered several crises: yellow vest [demonstrations], strikes, pandemic, economic crisis etc. “
The total project budget is $ 305 million, but the dramatic change will not happen immediately. Hidalgo said the renovation of the Place de la Concorde will take place in the coming years, but the renovation of the Champs-Élysées will have to wait until 2025.
In part, this is because Paris must first complete the ambitious program already underway to prepare the city to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
PCA-Stream
While these plans are scaled back due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the city is already renovating, rebuilding and restructuring not only its sports facilities, but also its roads and transportation systems, and its connections with the suburbs near La Défense to the west, and Saint-Denis to the north, which will host all administrative operations for the Games.
“We will redo the Place de la Concorde before the Olympic Games, then the entire length of the avenue; [another] extraordinary garden, “Hidalgo told the newspaper over the weekend.