Launched by the public authorities at the end of November 2023, the consultation process on the security and traffic perimeters which will apply during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer has come to an end. The Paris Police Prefecture should communicate next week on what it has learned. There will be, among other things, some adjustments compared to the constraints initially announced.
The prefect of police, Laurent Nuñez, already gave a first glimpse of this at the beginning of February: he announced that it will, for example, be possible to enter with a vehicle in a red perimeter – normally prohibited to automobile traffic, but open to pedestrians and bicycles – to provide essential care, deliver shops or meals to vulnerable people, make a move that cannot be postponed, or carry out social patrols. Taxis and VTCs will also be able to pick up or drop off a local resident.
The consultations also led to the recognition that it was necessary to make some adjustments to the constraints that will apply during road para-cycling competitions. These (time trials and road races) will take place within the Seine-Saint-Denis department alone: Clichy-sous-Bois will host the start and finish of a 13.9 kilometer loop.
The difficulty is that these races will take place from September 4 to 7, in the middle of the school year – this will take place from September 2. The question of access to educational establishments therefore arose for the municipalities concerned, for which a large red traffic perimeter will apply.
This should lead to some relaxations in the time slots during which this perimeter will be put in place, according to the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the initial version, presented at the end of November 2023, the bans indeed cover a very large part of the day.
The objective stated by the public authorities is to ensure that, generally speaking, in the municipalities concerned by the competition sites of the Games, a "balance can be found between preserving an approximately normal life for the people and security requirements", as Laurent Nuñez recalled at the beginning of February.
