By mid-morning, Rue d’Avron is a cacophony. But the loudest racket comes from columns of fast-moving traffic lining both sides of the street, which runs from the infamous ring road surrounding Paris known as the périphérique and into the city center: the two-note sirens of police cars, the diesel rumble of buses and, worst of all, the high-pitched wail of motor scooters that speed by every few seconds.
The complaints of those living on Rue d’Avron — considered one of the noisiest roads in one of Europe’s loudest cities — haven’t fallen on deaf ears: In February, municipal authorities installed a device known as sound radar — the first ever in Paris — on a lamppost along the thoroughfare in the city’s eastern 20th arrondissement to detect the loudest vehicles. A second was added in the northwestern 17th arrondissement soon after.
Exposure Research Lab 