The motorway and main road network play a key role in ensuring the mobility and economic attractivity of the metropolis. But questions are being raised about its urban and environmental integration as a result of its impact on public health and atmospheric pollution, as well as changes in the way it might be used in years to come.
The ring road - Boulevard Périphérique - runs round the centre of this major network and has a particular status and a complex role. It is an overcrowded city thoroughfare, the busiest in Europe and is also a showcase for the metropolis and a living space for 150,000 people.
It is possible to imagine that in the future the boom in innovative and sustainable modes of transport, the long-term closure of the Grand Paris underground Métro system and life style changes will bring about radical alterations in the facilities, landscape and services provided to the inhabitants of the Grand Paris metropolis by the Boulevard Périphérique.
This note describes the current situation and gives an overview of ways in which the Parisian Boulevard Périphérique might evolve.
