The Covid Lockdown is opening minds to the way things could be and giving momentum to trends already underway to transform the way we live and move about in cities.

                          by Carlton Reid  –  22 April 2020

Paris To Create 650 Kilometers Of Post-Lockdown Cycleways

“Whenever feasible, consider riding bicycles or walking,” recommended the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 21 in new technical guidance on moving around during the COVID-19 outbreak. Cycling and walking are useful for both social distancing and meeting the minimum requirement for daily physical activity, states the WHO guidance. Cities around the world have been giving over road space to cyclists and pedestrians during the pandemic, providing people with the sort of generous space generally allotted to motorists.

“Whenever feasible, consider riding bicycles or walking,” recommended the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 21 in new technical guidance on moving around during the COVID-19 outbreak. Cycling and walking are useful for both social distancing and meeting the minimum requirement for daily physical activity, states the WHO guidance. Cities around the world have been giving over road space to cyclists and pedestrians during the pandemic, providing people with the sort of generous space generally allotted to motorists.

Move around by bike or foot, recommends the World  Health Organization – WHO

On January 29, Hidalgo revealed that the space required to make Paris cyclist-friendly would mostly come at the expense of motoring. Under her plans, Paris was to remove 72% of its on-street car parking spaces.

During France’s 46-day transit strike last year, many strap-hangers switched to cycling, doubling the number of cyclists on the roads of Paris. And some months after the strike the numbers of those who carried on cycling remained high, with a 131% year-on-year rise in the number of cyclists.

The pop-up cycleways will be marked out with traffic wands.

Christophe Najdovski (L), in charge of Paris transportation at the Paris city hall, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo (C) and Mayor and President of Le Mans Metropolis Stephane Le Foll (R) ride new electric cycles Velib Metropole” by Smovengo on September 19, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)  –  GETTY IMAGES

“The current health crisis forces us to rethink our mobility system,” Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France, told a French newspaper.

“All levers must be pulled so that the easing of lockdown restrictions takes place in the best conditions.”

She added that the pop-up cycleways could help prevent the “complete paralysis of [our] road network, should there be a massive shift towards the private car.”

Elsewhere in France, 116 towns and cities—including Lille, Dijon, Rouen, Le Mans, and St Etienne—plan to build temporary cycleways for the duration of the current lockdown and the next few months.

Meanwhile, the French government is bringing forward the publication of new national cycleway guidelines. The best-practice guide will be published ahead of schedule on May 4.

“To avoid this, we will have to strengthen two-wheeled transport. This is why we’re putting in place an extraordinary plan to create new cycle paths,” he added.

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Article updated with information on 116 communities in France adding temporary cycleways, plus Milan’s Open Streets plan.

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Carlton Reid

I was Press Gazette’s Transport Journalist of the Year, 2018. I’m also an historian – my most recent books include “Roads Were Not Built for Cars” and “Bike Boom”, both published by Island Press, Washington, D.C.

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