The Champs-Elysées will soon be home to “the world’s most beautiful jogging route” thanks to a €250m (£210) million plan to “re-enchant” the traffic-clogged Parisian avenue.
After five years and €5 million (£4.2 million) of research, the Champs-Elysée committee unveiled a plan on Monday to restore at least some of the glory to the storied but increasingly unloved road by 2030.
Marc-Antoine Jamet, committee chairman, said the group took action after “alarming” complaints the avenue was “no longer loved, was no longer friendly, deserted by Parisians, feared by foreigners”.
“In short, everyone was fleeing it,” he added.
In the latest sign of disenchantment with the Champs-Elysées, which stretches for more than a mile though the heart of Paris, the UGC Normandie cinema will close in June owing to a “drop in attendance” at cinemas along the avenue.
To attract Parisians back, the 1,800-page, 400-map plan proposes 150 measures. These include increasing the space reserved for pedestrians by 13 per cent, reducing the number of lanes reserved for traffic from six to four and doubling the width of cycle lanes.
The plan, which involved 183 experts, says break-out areas will also be installed, including eight 500 square feet “plant lounges” with “seating, shade in summer and a fountain”, as well as free public lavatories.
Mr Jamet said: “It’s a question of maintaining the balance between foreign tourists and Parisians, between public and private activities.”
Currently neglected, the 20 hectares of gardens near Concorde will be transformed into “a true Parisian park, on a par with Luxembourg and Buttes-Chaumont”, with play areas for children, water features and fountains.
The plan also promises “the world’s most beautiful jogging route” along new green areas.
The aim is also to adapt the avenue to global warming by increasing the amount of permeable soil by 120 per cent, planting 160 trees and creating a hectare of meadows and flowerbeds.
The authors pledge to reduce the avenue’s carbon footprint by 33 per cent over 50 years and to lower the average temperature by up to seven degrees Celsius so as to transform it into a “climate refuge” in the event of a heatwave.
Pointing to the “visual and formal disorder” created by a hotchpotch of shops and terrasses, they call for the preservation of Belle Epoque street furniture and the creation of “a Champs-Elysées design line” to give it “overall harmony”.
‘Remake the district’
Finally, the study aims to “remake the district” by programming a cultural offering “throughout the year”, coordinated by a “cultural and artistic manager”.
The most recent event was a giant open-air “grand pique-nique” last Sunday attended by 4,000 people on a 700ft-long red-and-white tablecloth rug with free meals.
“It’s a way of telling Parisians: ‘Come back to the Champs-Elysées,’” said Mr Jamet.
In 2023, the committee transformed the avenue into an open-air mass “dictation” spellathon.
Other proposed events include “magical nights” in the gardens, symphony concerts, flower markets, and the return of a “quality” Christmas market.
Louis XIV’s gardener André Le Nôtre first laid out the wide promenade lined with a double row of elm trees on each side, called the Grand Cours. In 1709, it was renamed the Champs-Élysées and extended.
The city celebrated its liberation from the Nazis in 1944 on the Champs-Élysées and World Cup victories still bring out the crowds, but its charm gradually faded.
However, it will loom large during the forthcoming Paris Olympic Games as it is within walking distance of five official venues.
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