The Eindhoven City Council will carry out an exploratory study into building a tunnel under Kennedylaan.
This ‘quick scan’ should determine if the plan is, at all, feasible. That’s according to Councillor Yasin Torunoglu. GroenLinks presented the plan for this tunnel more than a week ago.
The land where the busy access road is now on could be used for housing. Up to 1,000 homes could be constructed there. According to the party, this is badly needed as the region is struggling with a severe housing shortage.
‘I like their enthusiasm’
GroenLinks, therefore, tabled a motion for an extensive study. Torunoglu doesn’t want it to go that far. “I appreciate Groenlinks’ enthusiasm. But it might turn out that this plan is unaffordable Then such an investigation would be a waste of time and energy.”
To give the idea a chance, he suggested a quick scan. “After all, we’ve to build a lot of short and long-term housing. So, we’ll have several experts assess whether this plan offers any prospects at all. A scan should show if such a tunnel is doable and if a real study would be useful.”
City council members were divided about GroenLinks’ plan. “This is entirely unfeasible financially. Kennedylaan is over seven kilometres long. It will cost billions,” Ouderen Appèl’s Dre Rennenberg says.
‘Why should it work here?’
“In many cities, these kinds of ambitious plans have failed. Why would they succeed in Eindhoven?” CDA councillor, Rob Gordon, asks. “Also, it will use a lot of concrete. That’s bad for the environment. There’s already a shortage of workforce too. Someone needs to supervise all these building plans.”
D66 and ChristenUnie see it differently. “I love these kinds of plans. Give the study a chance. It’s too easy to always say you can’t do it because it is too expensive,” Henk Jager, of the ChristenUnie, says.
GroenLinks chairwoman, Saskia Lammers, reiterated the necessity of the plan. “We’re not going to build all the houses the city needs if we continue as is. It requires a different way of thinking. And we think there’s plenty of room on Kennedylaan.”
Source: Studio040
Translator: Bob
Editor: Melinda Walraven
