Link between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est – Public meetings: what can we learn from them?

The STIF and its partners organised two public meetings as part of the consultation on the Gare du Nord – Gare de l'Est Link project. One was an urban walk and the other a workshop on the development of the surface link. What can we learn from these meetings?

Workshop "The project while walking" – Saturday 11 March

The workshop, which took place on Saturday, March 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., aimed to allow residents and users to take ownership of the changes to come on site, to answer questions and to collect observations, remarks and proposals from the participants.

The workshop took place in two parts:

• A presentation of the project, its objectives, the consultation process, in the room, for 45 minutes;
• A two-hour site visit guided by the STIF project team and elected officials from the 10th arrondissement town hall.

About 30 participants followed a predefined route with identified stopping points, where additional information and exchange took place.

The discussions between the participants resulted in a precise diagnosis of the neighbourhood and some areas for improvement. The participants insisted on the need to set up vertical links between the bottom and the top of the rue d'Alsace and mentioned the many noise and olfactory nuisances that they suffer daily in this space. In general, the participants said they were in favour of the establishment of a new balance that gives priority to pedestrians and bicycles over two-wheelers and cars in the streets of Alsace and Dunkirk but also in front of the Alsace and Magenta squares. The improvement of pedestrian traffic, which is a problem at certain intersections, has been identified as one of the major challenges of the project. The pedestrian link is also very poorly indicated and efforts would be desirable regarding the signage. Speaking of the tunnel, the underground link between Gare du Nord and Gare Magenta is often used by local residents, unlike the Château-Landon tunnel, which is poorly signposted and used only by regulars.

Workshop on the development of the pedestrian link – Tuesday, March 28

The second consultation workshop on the improvement of the link between the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est took place on 28 March 2017 at the Town Hall of the 10th arrondissement. Its objectives were to allow participants to understand the development of the pedestrian link but also that of the extension of the Château-Landon tunnel.

The 30 participants collectively reflected on the questions submitted to them on different themes. Based on reference images and a plan of the project, they were invited to express their feelings today and their areas for improvement for tomorrow.

The rue d'Alsace, its nuisances (squatting, insalubrity, incivility), its potential attractiveness and the avenues for improvement to be considered (police presence, replacement of bars by local shops, greening, total or partial pedestrianisation) were the subject of many comments. The participants also discussed the need to improve the forecourts of the two stations and pedestrian traffic, particularly at the Dunkirk / Faubourg Saint-Denis / La Fayette and Aqueduct / La Fayette / Alsace crossroads. The connection between the two stations should also be more legible and explicit for passengers, for example through clear and durable floor markings. The aim would be to make passers-by (local residents, travellers, tourists alike) want to enjoy the district by giving a strong and rewarding identity to the link between the two stations.

All the reports are available here!