The event was well worth some oils of the Republic. This Wednesday, Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate for Transport, Patrick Ollier, President of the Greater Paris Metropolis and Tony Estanguet, President of the Organizing Committee of the Games (OCOG) were present in front of the Stade de France to inaugurate the "pedestrian crossing and soft mobility" linking the forecourt of the stadium to the Olympic Aquatic Center under construction in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).

100 meters long and 20 meters wide, this metal walkway is a bridge literally and figuratively. Initially, it will allow athletes, delegations and many visitors to move from one Olympic site to another without having to cross the A1 motorway or Avenue du Président Wilson, two arteries that are particularly dense in traffic.

"This bridge foreshadows a future bigger project"

But if so many personalities, including many elected officials of the region (such as Geoffroy Boulard, vice-president of the MGP, Stéphane Troussel, president of the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis or Mathieu Hanotin, mayor of Saint-Denis), came to admire the dance performance offered to the guests before the ribbon cutting, it is also because it is the first completed realization of the games that will benefit from a "legacy phase".


Inauguration of the crossing linking the Olympic Aquatics Centre to the @StadeFrance 🎉
An event attended by @patrick_ollier, @CBeaune, @TonyEstanguet, @PierreRabadan, @MathieuHanotin, @StephanTroussel @Prefet93, @Prefet75_IDF, @jasmine_camara, @geoffroyboulard,... pic.twitter.com/KDl2d7aaxZ

— Métropole du Grand Paris (@GrandParisMGP) June 7, 2023

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"This bridge foreshadows a future larger project," explains Christian Mourougane, director of metropolitan development-JOP 2024 mission. To sum up, if around EUR 20 million has been invested, it is not only for the Olympics. Once the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games is over, work will begin on transforming the site, including a "greening of the passage" with the installation of green spaces, and the extension of the crossing to the future Saulnier Concerted Development Zone (ZAC).

Connecting the Pleyel district, the ZAC Saulnier and the Aquatic Centre

If during the Games, the ZAC will host different elements of Olympic logistics, with areas for the press, for the organization and for the athletes (including a magnificent training track for "throws"), it will then be transformed into a mixed urban project with housing, offices and tertiary activities with work that would begin as early as 2025.


The Greater Paris metropolis also plans to extend this "bridge" to the Pleyel district to create a link between it and the sports venues and allow residents to benefit from the infrastructure of the Olympic Aquatic Centre under construction. Because he too will be entitled to a post-event "legacy". Since part of the stands will disappear after the games to make way for fitness, climbing, padel and 5-a-side football areas. A way to "stitch the territory", according to Patrick Ollier.

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