Downtown Drive Will Cost $5 in Italian City

Drivers who want to enter the center of Florence will have to pay $5 for the privilege after April 10, a city official said Wednesday.

The councilman responsible for traffic, Graziano Cioni, said the move, which does not apply to residents or tourists staying in the center, will stop hundreds of vehicles from illegally entering the narrow medieval streets every day. The city set up a central exclusion zone two years ago to avoid congestion and protect its monuments from exhaust fumes.