As of Monday 9 January, “the rue de la Boucherie, the part of the rue du Marché-aux-Herbes located between the Grand-Rue and the rue de la Boucherie as well as the section of the Grand-Rue located between the rue du Nord and the rue du Fossé, will be regulated as a pedestrian zone,” stated a press release.

By promoting soft mobility and closing these roads to cars--deliveries will be allowed from 6am to 10am--the municipality hopes to “to increase the attractiveness of the town centre and its shops” as well as “ease traffic and redistribute public space in favour of pedestrians and cyclists.” Cyclists will be able to navigate these areas at night, between 6pm and 10am.

While the city centre’s shopping strip saw some of its clients taken away by shopping malls, showed that 49% of surveyed residents would visit it at least once a month. Shopping malls attracted 61% of them every month.

The administration in its statement also confirmed that it had finished installing traffic signs in the streets.