When F270 fast cycle route is officially opened in Nuenen on Wednesday afternoon, local residents and entrepreneurs from Eeneind will also be present. They protest against the construction of the fast cycle path, which connects Helmond and Eindhoven over a route of 13,7 kilometres.
The route leads from the centre of Eindhoven directly to the centre of Helmond. A crucial new part of the fast cycle route, between Eeneind (Nuenen) and Vaarleseweg (Geldrop-Mierlo/Helmond border), will be officially put into use on Wednesday.
Helmond councillor Arno Bonte (mobility), who is also chairman of the administrative steering group, is pleased. “This fast cycle path provides cyclists with a time saving of up to 10 minutes between Helmond and Eindhoven. This makes it a lot more attractive to cycle to work”.
“As a province, we are fully committed to a large network of fast cycle routes”, deputy Stijn Smeulders explains. “We know from research that 1 in 5 users of a fast cycle route previously used the car or public transport for the same route. This alone yields enormous benefits in the fight against traffic jams”.
Objections
However, residents and entrepreneurs of Eeneind have a number of objections and do not feel heard. “Consider, for example, the Eeneind railway crossing, which is not included in the risk analysis”, Hans Jager, one of the local residents, says. “However, this creates dangerous situations, which were not anticipated”.
But there’s more. “Cyclists have to cross both Eeneind level crossing and Molendijk level crossing to connect to F270 at Loostraat in Eindhoven. They have to give priority to traffic from the side roads many times. This will inevitably go wrong at some point”.
Jager also mentions the traffic congestion on Kruisakker Eeneind I industrial estate. “There is already a lot of cut-through traffic here anyway. Adding an extra traffic flow of vulnerable road users endangers not only these cyclists, but also the continuity and safety of the companies on this road”.
Detour
After the opening, the vast majority of F270 will be ready. Only a small piece is still missing near Dommeldal. This part is also expected to be completed by 2027 at the latest. Until then, a diversion will apply on this short stretch, where measures are being taken to make the route safer and more attractive for cyclists.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
