Paris bans cars on Seine River bank

PARIS

The French capital's city council voted Monday in favor of banning cars along the right bank of the Seine River as part of an effort to reduce air pollution.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo welcomed the “historic decision” as “the end of an urban motorway and the taking back of the Seine".

A 3.3-kilometer (two-mile) stretch of the river's right bank will be pedestrianized and closed to the 43,000 vehicles -- according to French daily Le Figaro -- that travel along the route each day.

As part of the socialist mayor’s anti-pollution plan, several streets around the capital and the renowned Champs-Elysees Avenue are now car-free the first Sunday of every month.

Moreover, since July 1, vehicles registered before 1997 – before June 1999 for motorcycles and scooters -- are not allowed to circulate most of the day in the city.

The measure regarding the Seine River will go into effect in the coming weeks.