Lille City Council has published a decree requiring cyclists and scooter riders to get off their vehicles in the pedestrianised streets of the city centre, a decision which was condemned on Wednesday by local Green politicians.
The decree applies to pedestrianised shopping streets and the Grand’Place throughout the week between 11:00 and 22:00, and is widely extended on Saturdays between 11:00 and 19:00 to several pedestrianised streets in the old town, Vieux-Lille.
Two-wheeled vehicles belonging to the municipal police, parcel post distributors and children under the age of eight are not required to dismount.
Pierre Posmyk, the local councillor in charge of active mobility at the city hall, felt that "there was really too much cycling" in these streets, while also stressing that the order concerned "only a very small number of streets."
He pointed out that offenders could be fined between €35 and €135.
The decision was condemned on Wednesday by the opposition Green councillors, who consider that it tends "to disadvantage a mode of transport that is nonetheless virtuous, under the guise of regulating abusive practices."
In particular, they criticised "the time slots and the very wide Saturday perimeter," which "represent a real obstacle to cycling" for local residents.
Other towns in France have already experimented with similar bans, including Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) and Nice.
