The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, held outside the stadium for the first time, will cause numerous disruptions on roads and traffic in Paris, against the backdrop of parliamentary elections that could sweep ministers in control.
“My role is to emphasize that we need caution, we must be extremely careful during every day that separates us from the deadline,” insisted Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera, during the presentation of the transport plan for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
For the first time, it will happen outside the stadium, along the Seine, where 326,000 spectators will gather to watch the parade of delegations by boat.
The impacts on Ile-de-France drivers are already expected to be significant. “Our assembly operations – the grandstand – will start from Monday (June 17) and will take place gradually until July 26. We have the installation of the equivalent of two Stade de France,” indicated Tony Estanguet.
Then, from July 8, work on the installation of the bases on the bridges will begin. Significant restrictions start from mid-July as several bridges will be completely or partially closed to traffic on the 14th.
– Metro to avoid –
On the high piers, “the start of assembly will begin on June 26, but with little impact on traffic,” assured the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports and the Olympic Games, Pierre Rabadan. “On the other hand, on July 15, we will be forced to influence the traffic a little more in order to specially arrange the hospitality areas,” he continued.
An anti-terrorist perimeter will also be in place from July 18 until the opening ceremony, requiring everyone to register and give good reasons for coming to the walk along the Seine.
But the biggest distractions are reserved for the day of the ceremony, the Friday ahead of one of the biggest crossover weekends at Paris stations.
Three of them are also located within the security perimeter: Gare de Lyon, Austerlitz and Bercy. For July 26, reservations for trains departing and arriving from these stations are limited to 70% capacity.
It will also not be possible to travel after 4 p.m. “to avoid crowds and be able to deal with a situation where a large number of passengers are late and miss the train,” the Ministry of Transport stated.
It will also be better to avoid the metro, where many stations will be closed, especially along the Seine. Between 18:00 and 21:30, line 6 will be completely closed and RER C will no longer pass through Paris.
– Fear of choices –
Valérie Pécresse explained that every spectator with a ticket to the opening ceremony will be shown a station to join in order to enter the perimeter.
The venues are scheduled to open between 3.30pm and 6.30pm and the regional president, who also chairs the transport authority, “encourages spectators to anticipate their arrival” to avoid crowds.
Ms Pécresse also shared her concerns about the political situation and called for an “Olympic truce” after July 7, the day of the second round of parliamentary elections that could see the emergence of a new majority, potentially of the far right. “The involvement of politics in the organization of the Games is not good news,” she complained.
Since Monday, those responsible in the organizing committee of the Olympic Games, led by Tony Estanguet, have calmed down by insisting on the “continuity of the state” and the fact that they have already had to face changes of ministers and more than ten elections.
However, during these Olympics there will be “piloting issues, flow management issues, which will require arbitration,” Amélie Oudéa-Castera reminded. “We will need a high quality of command during the JOPs,” she insisted, 43 days before the global event in France.
AFP