What is this... and why?

I was surprised to find all these installations in front of the entrance to « my » park. Well, I learnt that they will disappear in “a couple” of months. It’s part of the work on the extension of metro line no. 14.

In this part of the city we have at present line no. 13, probably the most overcrowded of all Paris metro lines. Something had to be done. (I’m lucky not to have to use it every day at 8 am or 6 pm.)

I have already posted about the close-by park Clichy-Batignolles-Martin Luther King (e.g. here), where the Olympic village would have been created if Paris had got the 2012 games. Instead it has now become a very popular park and starts to be surrounded by a number of office (12.700 people) and living (6.500 people) buildings. Everything is very ecological, all buildings are equipped with solar panels… (Some of these photos were taken before all the leaves were out.)

Furthermore the new Palace of Justice will be installed at the northern end of the park.

So, finally the decision was made to extend line no. 14, which at present stops at Gare Saint Lazare to the north. The line will – in 2019 - reach the northern suburbs like Gennevilliers, Saint Ouen…, but personally I’m more concerned by a new station,  Pont Cardinet, “just round the corner” for me.

Some 5.8 km (3.6 miles) and four new stations are being built. Costs are estimated to 1.4 billion € (slightly more in $).

The installations in front of “my” park, Square des Batignolles, are thus temporary and are quite modest…

… compared to what what you can find where the new Pont Cardinet station will be installed. The present little building will obviously disappear and be replaced by a building where the metro entrance(s) will be integrated.