Traffic will be restricted throughout Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games, and several parts of the city, around competition venues, will be closed completely to vehicles for security and logistic reasons.
Only ticket holders will be allowed access to competition venues, which will have protection perimeters set up around them, including traffic restrictions, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez announced Wednesday, revealing planned closures and traffic configurations for the Games.
A lot of western and central Paris, where most events will take place, will be closed to traffic or sharply restricted, with vehicles needing to preregister in order to access some areas.
Zones completely closed to traffic will include the Place de la Concorde, in central Paris, where the 3x3 basketball competitions will take place, as well as skateboarding and breakdancing.
It will be closed to traffic starting 1 June, and will “gradually open” as of 7 September.
Other restricted areas will be the Trocadéro, the Eiffel Tower and the Champ-de-Mars at its base.
Pedestrians and cyclists will be allowed to circulate freely.
Construction for the opening ceremony, to be held at the Seine docks, will start early June, and most bridges will be off-limits from early July. The Alexandre III bridge will be closed to traffic as early as 17 May.
Dismantling operations will start at the beginning of August.
The number of people allowed to attend the opening ceremony will be set next spring, Nuñez told the Parisien newspaper.
"There are entry and exit requirements to manage, there are the booksellers along the route," he said. "We are talking with them. Some of them are in point locations where we're afraid they may attract crowds."
Stéphane Troussel, President of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, which will host several events, including athletics at the Stade de France, has expressed concern about the announced increase in the cost of public transport during the Games, and the effect that may have on residents, who will not be able to use their cars in certain areas.
On Monday, Valerie Pecresse, President of the Ile-de-France region, which manages the metro and public transit network, announced that the price of a ticket will nearly double, from 2.10 euros to to 4 euros during the Games.
(With newswires)
