• The mayor of Lyon and the metropolis presented this Friday the project planned to appease the peninsula, which will be largely pedestrianized between the bottom of the slopes of Croix-Rousse and Place Bellecour.
  • The objective is clear: to eliminate through traffic to protect the city centre from car traffic.
  • In the Cordeliers sector, Grenette Street, used daily by 10,000 motorists, will no longer be accessible to cars (with the exception of residents and rights holders).

What new face will the Lyon peninsula have in 2030? At the end of the consultation launched on the subject on June 20, the city and the metropolis presented this Friday the details of the project. Between "limited traffic zone" and greening, the city center should undergo profound changes. Because, clearly, a large part of the area will be pedestrianized, starting with the bottom of the slopes of Croix-Rousse.

Many developments, such as changes in the direction of traffic, will be carried out gradually until 2025. In detail, and for this perimeter, it will concern the streets of Puits-Gaillot, Sainte-Catherine, Romarin, Désirée, Terraille, Saint-Polycarpe, Coustou, the small rue des Feuillants, as well as the Place du Griffon. The device tested mounted Saint-Sébastien will be "perpetuated", says Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon, stressing "the very strong demand" of the inhabitants to bring more safety to pedestrians.

A little further, the streets Serlin, Bât d'argent and de l'arbre sec, which adjoin the Place des Terreaux, will also be pedestrianized. Finally, it is planned to vegetate Place Rambaud and Rue de la Martinière. In addition, the streets Emile Zola and the former prefecture will be "requalified", and that of the Barre "transformed" as well as the north of the Place Bellecour.

Grenette Street closed to motorists

But the biggest transformation will be carried out in the Cordeliers district. The northern part of Rue de la République must also be pedestrianised, in line with the transformation initiated many years ago on the first section. "A forecourt will be built between the Saint-Bonaventure church and the Place de la Bourse," reveals Grégory Doucet.

As a result, and not least, Grenette Street, which is the only direct axis to cross the peninsula from one bank to the other, will no longer be accessible to cars. However, 10,000 use it daily. By 2026, only public transport and authorized vehicles will be able to circulate on the section. "If motorists want to reach the other bank, they will have to go through the hoppers of Perrache or under the Croix-Rousse tunnel," says the president of the metropolis Bruno Bernard, minimizing the risk of traffic transfer on these axes, already saturated. "In Lyon, car traffic has decreased by 10% since 2019. The trend will continue downwards," he continues.

"Remove transit traffic"

"It is estimated that 20 to 30% of vehicles will be transferred to other modes of transport," says Valentin Lugenstrass, deputy to the city of Lyon, delegate for mobility. The communities promise to "improve service to the peninsula by 2025" by creating "a new strong line" of public transport, in addition to existing lines. "The rest of the motorists will be dispatched between Perrache, the southern sector of Bellecour and the Croix-Rousse," continues the elected official. "We are not going to prohibit people from taking their cars but their journey will probably be longer," warns Grégory Doucet.

"The objective is to remove transit traffic on the peninsula, except for residents and rights holders," says Bruno Bernard, slightly annoyed. And to recall some statistics by way of conclusion: "Today, of the 420,000 trips related to the peninsula, 20% are made by car, 40% by public transport and 20% in soft mode. When we analyze the internal flows, we observe that only 3% of the inhabitants of the peninsula travel by car."

The works, with an estimated budget of between 20 and 25 million euros, are due to start as early as summer 2023.



  • Society
  • Town planning
  • Pedestrians
  • Car
  • Lyon
  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Rhône-Alpes