The Livable Blog

Another week, another city closes a riverfront freeway to create park space. But here in Metro Vancouver, municipal politicians from Delta and Surrey still seem eager to trash the banks of the Fraser river for a freeway. What are they thinking? Do they really think that trashing prime salmon habitat and recreational space is the way to create great places to live? Don't they realize that 1967 (when Paris' freeway opened) was almost the end of riverfront freeway development, as 1968 marked a decisive upswing in activism against such destructive schemes.

But rumor has it that the provincial government may not be willing to eliminate every public service we value - from school band programs, to homeless shelters, to healthcare for seniors - to fund the South Fraser Freeway. We are waiting a suspiciously long time to hear what the bid price is. (The provincial government is still saying $1.2 billion, I am betting it will be closer to $2 billion and others think it could go higher.)

So come out to see what is at stake, and take action against the South Fraser Freeway, during Earth Action Week - see http://gatewaysucks.org/earth-action-week-april-1826

French bid 'au revoir' to expressway along Seine named after ex-president

Pedestrians, cyclists hail the proposal, but taxi drivers say congestion is already intolerable

By Henry Samuel, Daily Telegraph April 15, 2010

Photograph by: Reuters, Daily Telegraph

A computer-generated image released Wednesday shows an urban planning project of the Paris expressway on the banks of the river Seine at the Invalides-Concorde area, where the riverside roadway has been turned into a pedestrian walkway and a botanical garden anchored along the bank.

Highways along the Seine River in Paris are to be closed after 43 years in an attempt to return the banks to their "former beauty."

The highways were built by Georges Pompidou, the former French president, as part of his great "expressway program."

Up to 70,000 cars a day travel along the Seine's left bank and along the Pompidou expressway -- a divided highway built on the right bank in 1967. Pompidou was an avid motorist who once declared: "The French love their cars."

The banks have been UNESCO world heritage sites since 1992.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe who introduced Paris-Plages -- when the banks of the Seine become a temporary beach every summer -- said removing cars from sections of the riverbank would help cut pollution and boost the capital's international standing.

Delanoe has declared war on the "unacceptable hegemony of the automobile," introducing trams, bicycle and bus lanes and a bicycle rental scheme since taking office in 2001.

The moves have been welcomed by most non-motorists but car and taxi drivers have complained that congestion has become intolerable.

Undeterred, the mayor said he planned to pedestrianize a 1.8-km stretch of road on the left bank from the Orsay museum to the Pont de l'Alma near the Eiffel Tower by 2012.

There are also plans to include steps down to the water, as well as gardens, walkways, green "islets" and a barge containing a botanical garden.

To avoid total gridlock, cars will not be banned on the expressway side, but part of the expressway will become a boulevard with bike and pedestrian areas. "The idea is to transform an urban autoroute into a living space with areas where there will be no cars," said Delanoe.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/French+revoir+expressway+along+Seine+named+after+president/2909508/story.html

Photo: The South Fraser Witness Trail on the route of the South Fraser Freeway