Avenue Jean Jaurès, Épernay: climate-adaptive city entrance with TreeParker

During the redevelopment of Avenue Jean Jaurès in Épernay, TreeParker was applied to enable trees to grow sustainably beneath an intensively used traffic route. Thanks to the underground tree pits, the trees have all the space they need to grow into mature avenue trees, while the former traffic artery has been transformed into a green and future-proof city entrance.

As an important access road to the Champagne city of Épernay, Avenue Jean Jaurès was long known primarily as a busy traffic artery. Every day, approximately 12,000 passenger cars and 800 lorries used the avenue, which is around 800 metres in length. The street had a strongly functional character, with little greenery and limited spatial quality for residents and visitors. For this reason, the municipality of Épernay decided to undertake a major redevelopment of this important city entrance.

The project formed part of a broader ambition to make the entrance to the city more attractive, safer and greener. The street therefore needed not only to be improved in terms of traffic flow, but also to better reflect the identity of the Champagne region. The design focused on slowing traffic, enhancing the landscape character and creating a high-quality public space in which trees play a prominent role.

To make this greening sustainable, new trees were planted in the underground tree pit layout TreeParker. The soil cell system creates a large volume of high-quality, uncompacted growing space beneath the paving, while simultaneously accommodating heavy traffic loads without any issues. This provides trees in an urban environment with sufficient root space and prevents damage to paving caused by root heave. In addition, the system supplies trees with optimal water and oxygen.

The result is a green city entrance in which infrastructure and tree growth are integrated. Avenue Jean Jaurès has not only been given a new appearance, but has also been made more future-proof in the context of climate adaptation. Avenue Jean Jaurès is now a striking gateway that welcomes residents and visitors to the heart of the Champagne region!