A whole (ephemeral) stadium will be built in the heart of the city for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games, Friday July 26 in the evening. The equivalent, in number of spectators, of five Stade de France, or more than 300,000 people spread over a 6 km route, along the Seine. A new show which requires the installation of stands, decorative elements and other technical equipment.
This XXL montage will begin on June 17, more than a month before the big river parade during which around a hundred boats will sail with athletes and delegations on board. An extraordinary challenge. If preparation begins so early, it is with the objective of “maintaining uses” and “being as limited as possible in impact over time”, underlines Paris 2024, the organizer. “We tried to collect as many interventions as possible. »
First traffic restrictions from July 1
The first installation operations will begin at the port of Gros Cailloux, on the left bank, near the Alexandre-III bridge, the epicenter of the water events in particular. Then, the following week, the site rights-of-way will extend to the low platforms as well as the high platforms. “There is a beginning of assembly high platforms but which does not close road traffic”, initially, assures Pierre Rabadan, Anne Hidalgo’s deputy in charge of the Games. “We work on the sidewalks, the developments, we deposit equipment. »
From July 1, areas will begin to be completely closed to traffic, such as the Conference Port and the Quai des Saints-Pères. As of this date, “we have not yet worked on the bridges,” notes Paris 2024. “Their importance in the Paris traffic plan is crucial.”
After July 14, the home stretch
It is once the festivities of July 14 have passed that the rights of way will greatly extend and the traffic restrictions will be multiplied, in the final stretch of the assembly of this opening ceremony which will be followed by 2 billion of viewers. “We are closing a certain number of platforms, we are starting interventions on the bridges,” continues the organizing committee. The stands being the most important infrastructures.
In the four days before the huge show, the setup will be almost complete. “The change on the high quays really takes place on July 15,” continues Pierre Rabadan. Traffic will be largely limited from July 18, the date of entry into force of the security perimeters detailed this Thursday by Laurent Nuñez, Paris police prefect, during a press conference.
