Residents of Eindhoven were given the last opportunity on Tuesday night to post comments on the radical traffic plan the Eindhoven City Council wants to implement. The general impression about the plan is positive, although there are a number of concrete concerns.
In the Eindhoven district of De Bergen, they are afraid of the current design of the plan, which would increase traffic at the intersection of Hoogstraat and Mauritsstraat.
Axel van Nielen of Bewonersvereniging (residents’ assocation) De Bergen sees the increase in the various traffic flows (cyclists, cars, public transport, pedestrians, delivery services and special target groups) as the biggest bottleneck. He wonders whether there is any insight into the impact the plans will have on the traffic in the district during rush hour.
Marc Ebus of De Bergen business association also expressed his concerns on Tuesday evening. According to him, the traffic plan will create a ‘small circle around Bergen with a lot of traffic’ and ‘it will soon be completely jammed with cars.’ “What will then remain of the lively and car-free Kleine Berg?”, he wonders.
Both Ebus and Van Nielen are not against the municipality’s major traffic plan, but do see this part of the centre as a point of attention where additional measures are needed.
Banning through traffic
The City Council plans to ban through traffic from the city centre. The complex plan, which will cost more than half a billion euros according to an initial estimate, was previously presented by traffic Alderman Robert Strijk and coincides with a metamorphosis of Ring. The city will be divided into four parts, as it were, and no car traffic will be possible between the four areas. Cars will be sent via the ring road, for which major measures to improve traffic flow are being developed, such as grade-separated intersections and a reduction in the speed limit from 70 to 50 kilometres per hour.
Consultation
When drawing up the plans, the municipality asked residents to think along at various times. People could indicate what they considered important in the new traffic plans. Smooth driving, traffic nuisance, safety and greenery were discussed. There were no clear outliers. “The pie is divided fairly evenly, so to speak. So it will be a political-administrative consideration”, Alderman Strijk said earlier about this.
Home care
Comments on the plan were also made by Eindhoven Toegankelijk (accessible). “Does the plan pay sufficient attention to people who are limited in their mobility and therefore dependent on the car” and “will home care staff or the care taxi still be able to easily reach their clients”, are the questions raised by chairwoman Paula de Ruiter.
Uncertainties
Tijmen Berkhout spoke on behalf of recycling company Smurfit Westrock, located on De Kade industrial estate. He is not sure whether his trucks will still be able to drive on Ring or cross the road in a normal way. “Structural solutions are surrounded by uncertainties in this plan”, Berkhout said. “Look beyond the marketing talk of the plans”, he called on the Municipal Council.
Fietsersbond (cyclists’ union), through Pieter Nuiten, said that it is pleased with the municipality’s traffic plan. But he also gave the Municipal Council something to think about: “However, the traffic circulation plan is mainly focused on the car. We would like to see where the bottlenecks are for cyclists and pedestrians”.
The Municipal Council will discuss the traffic plan next week. On 20 May, the politicians will make a decision.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
