In a few weeks, the network of “emergency cycle paths”, also called “coronapistes”, has spread its web over Greater Paris. at the speed of a sprinter. In Seine-Saint-Denis, in Hauts-de-Seine, in Val-de-Marne… dozens of municipalities, supported by the Ile-de-France region and the regional prefecture, have contributed to making the “RER bike ”, this 650 km cycling network designed by the thirty associations that make up the Ile-de-France cycling collective *.
This week again, new two-way tracks have just been built between the Pont de Garigliano (Paris, 15th century) and Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine). One more step to open up the southwest of the metropolis (read elsewhere). Others are expected by autumn in Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt or La Courneuve.
“It’s a double revolution,” says Stein van Oosteren, spokesperson for the collective. First, that of the Parisian suburbs, which is fully part of the cycling dynamic. It is also a technical revolution, with unusual and exemplary cycle facilities at intersections, such as the Noisy-le-Sec crossroads in Seine-Saint-Denis, the Pompadour roundabout in Créteil in Val-de-Marne or the roundabout. point of Catalonia in Paris (14th century) ”.
More and more followers in the suburbs
In Paris, the existing tracks have recorded attendance records since May. Much of the peloton is made up of commuters, who have so far hesitated to get on a bicycle. “I come from Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) and I work near the Gare de l’Est. It’s not very far but I never had the courage to go there by bike. With the tracks on avenue Michelet and boulevard Ornano, I feel safer, ”says Xavier.
However, crossing the ring road is not easy everywhere. Entrances to Paris with protected cycle paths can be counted on the fingers of one hand, such as Porte de Montreuil or Porte d’Orléans. “Doors are complicated infrastructures to fit out. You have to take the time to study space and bus traffic in particular, ”observes Jean-Sébastien Catier, the president of Paris en Selle.
Complicated, but not impossible, completes Stein van Oosteren. “I am Dutch and I observe the cityscape with my Dutch software in my head. French technical expertise has improved a lot thanks to coronapistes. Sometimes you just have to completely rethink the space, it takes time, but it is possible ”.
The reluctance of some residents, motorists and elected officials
The development of the bicycle as a mode of transport finally comes up against the reluctance of certain residents, motorists and elected officials. In Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis) recently, in Chatou (Yvelines) or Argenteuil (Val-d’Oise), the mayors quickly decided to put an end to the experience of certain coronapists … Reason: these roads prohibited to cars would generate the traffic jam. “Removing cycle paths so quickly does not make sense,” regrets Stein van Oosteren. The mayor of Drancy says that residents have no choice and that they must take their car. But it is precisely up to elected officials to create this choice. The more space we leave for cars, the more there are and the more traffic jams ”.
To move from temporary to sustainable, current cycling facilities will therefore have to be the subject of broad consultation. The associations working to build the RER bicycle are working to set up “line committees”. These committees will bring together all the stakeholders on a continuous cycle route. They will meet under the aegis of the region, which plans to devote 300 million euros to cycle paths.
