traffic restrictions, QR codes… what you need to know

• Four security perimeters

Prefect Laurent Nunez unveiled four security perimeters on Tuesday, November 28, in his interview with the newspaper Le Parisien. There is first “an organizing perimeter, where only accredited people enter (athletes, staff, organization, journalists, service providers, etc.) or with a ticket”, he specifies.

Next comes the protection perimeter, or “Silt” – from the Internal Security and Fight against Terrorism Law. “To enter, everyone is searched. This perimeter does not generally include local residents, except for the opening ceremony and on a limited basis for a few sites,” he explains.

In addition to these two demarcated areas, there are traffic perimeters. “Closest to the site, red: the principle is the ban on traffic, unless exempted, due to the significant pedestrian flow and the risk of car-ramming attacks or disturbances,” according to the police prefect.

The last one, blue, will be wider: “We only want to let in by car those who live there, work there, or want to go to a business or restaurant,” he continues, specifying that all these perimeters will be put in place. line.

• Variable duration of these restrictions

Traffic restrictions will be in place throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Paris police chief clarified to Le Parisien that these zones “will only be activated during competitions, two and a half hours before the start of the events and up to one hour after”.

There will, however, be exceptions: the Olympic village in Saint-Denis and the central Paris sector – Concorde, Invalides, Grand Palais, Champ-de-Mars, Trocadéro. For the latter, the sites will be closed to traffic a little before the start of the Olympics and during the competition, the restrictions could be in effect “from 6:30 a.m. to midnight”, according to Laurent Nunez.

“But once again, on foot and by bike, these areas will be free to access. The limitations only concern motorized vehicles,” specifies the police prefect.

A platform will be opened in March-April 2024 so that people who wish to travel in red restriction zones can obtain an exemption. “You will have a QR code to present during checks,” explained Laurent Nunez.

“It will be necessary to register in advance on a digital platform by providing a certain number of supporting documents, of address but not only. Traders may need it for deliveries, for example,” continues the police prefect, who specifies that “access points, entry and exit, will be defined” to access these restricted areas.

The exemptions will concern different types of public, according to Laurent Nunez: “Residents who have parking lots, those who visit vulnerable people, emergency and rescue vehicles, recovery vehicles, etc. Taxis and VTCs should be authorized there. if they drop someone off there and only if they have proof.”

“The principle is the ban on motorized traffic, and the exception, the exemption,” says the Paris police prefect.

As for the blue perimeter, there will be “no pre-registration”, according to Laurent Nunez. “There will still be checks, we want to avoid transit traffic. People who enter this perimeter must be able to justify the reason for their trip.”

• Even stronger restrictions on the day of the opening ceremony

For the opening ceremony of the Games on the banks of the Seine, the Paris police chief warns that restrictions will be even stricter than during the rest of the competition.

“It will be more complicated… The traffic ban perimeter will be large. Above all, our idea is to activate the Silt protection perimeter which will include neighboring homes several days before,” he explains. “There, obviously, the entry of vehicles will be limited to the strict minimum. The public will be everywhere, on the high platforms, the low platforms. It is a strict control perimeter, you will have to be searched, show your credentials.”

And Laurent Nunez continues: “On D-Day, July 26, we will have a red perimeter which will be very wide, more than the previous days. The activation will be done a few hours before the start of the ceremony and will end when it is over . Only people who have something to do there will enter.”

As for people well established on the Seine and who would like to invite relatives or friends to see the opening ceremony, no exceptions. “We must register them on the platform” which will be online in a few months, says the prefect. “This will involve a declaration obligation which will rest on the resident, with the production of the identities of the people invited.” The same obligation will apply to barges used as accommodation.

With AFP