Residents from the Eindhoven neighbourhoods of Hanevoet and Ooievaarsnest have started a petition against new bus lanes. According to plans, two bus lanes will soon run across Meerveldhovenseweg. “This is unacceptable”.
The bus lanes would become part of a new HOV4 line. “The bottlenecks in the centre of Eindhoven were known, but the plans for Meerveldhovenseweg came as a surprise”, Ted Krebbeks, one of the initiators of the petition, said.
So according to the HOV preferred route, two bus lanes will soon run along Meerveldhovenseweg, one towards Eindhoven and one towards Veldhoven. The existing bus route on the north side of Kastelenplein, Karel de Grotelaan, will thus be eliminated. According to Krebbeks, this will expand Meerveldhovenseweg to two HOV bus lanes, two lanes for car traffic, a bicycle path and a sidewalk.
Nuisance
“We think the burdens are disproportionately spread out”, Ted Krebbeks said. “It creates a lot of noise pollution. That’s already there now, but that’s still acceptable. In addition, the new road will be more than 20 metres wide. It is already close to people’s front or back yards”. Furthermore, according to Krebbeks, it will lead to more exhaust fumes, traffic congestion in the neighbourhoods and traffic jams between A2 and N2. “About 150 trees have to be cut down. In addition, Kastelenplein will become poorly accessible for visitors and trucks”.
Like now
Krebbeks: “We are not against the arrival of the HOV4. We just don’t want all the traffic to come over Meerveldhovenseweg. We want it to stay the way it is now. So on the north side you go into town and on the south side you go out of town. This also costs a lot less money”.
Petition
“The residents directly affected by the nuisance have received a flyer in the mailbox asking them to sign our petition. To collect the signatures we are going door-to-door. So far, about 150 out of 300 people have signed the petition”.
Political questions
50Plus political party has asked council questions about the issue. Among other things, the Eindhoven opposition party wants to know whether a study has been conducted by traffic experts and whether residents have been involved in the plans. The elderly party also wants to know if the city council is still co-deciding on the HOV4 route.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
