Residents and entrepreneurs in Nuenen cannot agree with the municipality’s plans to close Opwettenseweg to car traffic. They agree that the road is very busy. But closing it completely to car traffic… that goes too far for many.
Municipality of Nuenen plans to design Opwettenseweg as a bicycle street. This would make the road part of Gemert–Eindhoven fast cycle route. Although the zoning plan is still with Council of State, the municipality has already started preparations. Discussions are currently being held with local residents, entrepreneurs and emergency services. The aim is to implement the plan in 2026.
Unnecessary
A resident of Opwettenseweg thinks the measure is absurd. He assumes that people who live in the vicinity of the road are used to the hustle and bustle. “If you are going to live here, you know what you are getting into, right? You don’t live next to an airport and then complain about noise pollution. To let everybody make a detour so that we have a quiet street… I think that is really unnecessary”. Another neighbour is afraid that the measure will not make the area quieter. “New neighbourhoods are being built everywhere, but the infrastructure is lagging behind. That will ultimately result in more car traffic and then you have to be able to build on connecting roads”.
An older couple who has lived on Opwettenseweg for more than 50 years are also fiercely opposed to the municipality’s plans. “It is a busy road, yes, but aren’t almost all roads like this in the Netherlands very busy?” the man wonders. “After all these years, we are more than used to the hustle and bustle. It is just a shame to make all those people who have to go to Eindhoven take a huge detour…”
The man claims that Opwettenseweg used to be much busier, because it was the only through road from Beek en Donk, Gerwen, Lieshout and Gemert. “When Geldropsedijk and Europalaan were built, it became a bit quieter. Why do they want to reduce traffic even further now?”
Customers
Entrepreneurs fear that the plan is bad for business in the area. “It is very important for my business that customers can come by car to drop off their children”, Corrie Gehoel, director of the Kiddies daycare centre, says. Monique from Bakkerij (bakery) Bekkers also has mixed feelings about closing the road to traffic. “The cars here drive incredibly fast and that is unsafe for cyclists, the plan is good for that. On the other hand, it is a shame that our bakery will then have to count on fewer customers”. A meeting is planned for July where the municipality will explain the plan in more detail. Although some entrepreneurs have little confidence in this in advance. Jeroen Leenen of Baderie Nuenen for example. “Initially the idea was to build a roundabout. That would have been beneficial, but it didn’t happen. I have now come to the conclusion that I have no influence on what the municipality does”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
