Equal to the Vestdijk, the Boschdijk can delete one lane as well. According to Alderman Visscher the Boschdijk will become safer for pedestrians and cyclists and additional trees or shrubs can be laid out.
The Alderman came upon the idea during a debate on road safety on the Boschdijk within the ring road Tuesday evening. Residents of the districts Hemelrijken and Limbeek have been complaining about unsafe situations for years and started a citizens’ initiative. They assembled over 500 signatures in order to assure the enforcement of traffic measures. They have submitted the proposal to create a central median, to reduce the speed limit and to delete a roadway.
The City Council supports the citizens’ initiative and finds that something has to be done to improve safety. Therefore the Alderman proposed the creation of a stop place for cyclists and pedestrians as well as the deletion of one lane. There is a high expectation of that last measure in particular, the Alderman says. Visscher also thinks this is an affordable option. Full refurbishment of the Boschdijk will cost millions of euros and there is no money for that, and “it hasn’t that priority and urgency either”, the Councillor said.
Most of the groups in the City Council stress that they find the Boschdijk important as there has to be viewed properly what solutions are feasible, given the dire financial situation of the municipality.
The parties have called the Councillor to come up with low-cost measures that can improve the situation in the short term. In the autumn it is necessary to assess what really can be invested in the Boschdijk. The City Council will then focus on the town budget. A number of opposition parties said that other projects such as the advent of the Dommel tunnel or investment in the inner city can be deleted or retrenched, to the benefit of the Boschdijk.
Alderman Visscher agreed to get started. She is seriously considering to delete a lane on the Boschdijk and wants to see if that option is affordable, and if this won’t cause a traffic jam elsewhere. Visscher added that the Boschdijk is not a top priority, as relatively a few accidents happen on the road, and many cars don’t exceed the 50 kilometres limit.
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translated by: Bob
