Traffic Is Unbearable on Paris's Beltway. The Fix? Remove Lanes.

In the ongoing campaign to reduce private car use in Paris, the next battleground is likely to be the city’s beltway. This Tuesday, Paris deputies submitted a report to Mayor Anne Hidalgo proposing a reduction of the speed limit on the Parisian Boulevard Périphérique, the 22-mile-long highway that encircles the central city, to 50 km/h (about 31 miles per hour). Cars and trucks on one of Europe’s most notoriously congested and polluted urban highways would not only be obliged to drive more slowly, they’d have less room to do it: The number of beltway lanes open to all traffic would also be slashed from eight to six. One lane will be reserved for public, emergency, and zero-emissions vehicles. The other one is to be devoted to trees.

The plan still needs to be approved by the Council of Paris in mid-June, but the mayor has already declared herself broadly favorable, and it’s likely to win. That doesn’t mean that Hidalgo can expect a smooth ride. The Périphérique is one of the key cogs in Greater Paris’ road system. Given the sustained protests against Paris’ pedestrianization of its quaysides in recent years, Paris City Hall could be in for quite a fight.