In a move that’s stirred controversy and possibly even a conflict with regional authorities, Paris has dropped the speed limit on its ring road, the Péripherique, to 50 km/h, or about 30 mph from 70 km/h.
The famously traffic-choked highway is blamed for dangerously high levels of pollution affecting nearby homes, and the city says its main motivation for the change is environmental.
New signs have been going up along the road, which follows the line of Paris’s old city walls, removed in the 19th century, since last week, a job that should be complete within the next day or so.
The head of the Ile de France regional government which includes and surrounds Paris opposed the change, and has argued, with backing from the transport ministry, that only national authorities can take this action; the city is claiming that a 2017 decentralization law gave the city the power to do so. But whatever the final outcome, the new limit is now a fait accompli.
City officials said that “local pollution due to road traffic can be twice as high as regular ‘background’ pollution in Paris, and up to five times higher than the recommended NO2 levels from the World Health Organization.”
They also cited safety concerns, pointing out that a previous drop in 2014 from 80 to 70 “led to a 19 percent decrease in accidents involving injuries, and a 25 percent decrease in accidents involving motorcyclists” and expect the new rule do lower accidents even further.
