Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit.brussels)
Measures must be taken quickly to address road safety at the Wiels art centre in Vorst, said Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit.brussels) in the Brussels Parliament. Mouani asked the responsible Minister of Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), to thoroughly evaluate the situation after local residents expressed their concerns about trams obstructing pedestrian and cycle crossings.
The junction at the Wiels Centre for Contemporary Art in Forest is a busy spot where traffic grinds to a halt daily: trams, cars, cyclists and pedestrians often weave across one another, resulting in dangerous situations. “I was contacted by concerned local residents from Forest. Parents picking their children up from school. Young people wanting to cycle home. Elderly people wanting to cross the street”, Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit.brussels) explained yesterday in the Brussels Parliament – fittingly, on World Bicycle Day.
“It turns out that tram sets - which are waiting at a nearby tram stop - regularly cause blockages at the intersection. This means they block crossings and pedestrians and cyclists literally get stuck in the middle of this busy traffic artery: particularly dangerous,” says Brussels Parliamentarian Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit.brussels)
Evaluation required
Mouani criticised that the crossing point – apart from the trams – is hardly safe for pedestrians and cyclists anyway. The MP therefore asked Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) if she is aware of the situation and what actions she plans to take to address it. “Has an evaluation been carried out of the circulation of trams and their impact on pedestrian and cyclist safety at this specific intersection?” she asked. And also: “Why do trams stall at the spot where pedestrians and cyclists need to cross? What measures are being considered or taken?”
Van den Brandt acknowledged that the intersection can feel unsafe, but stressed that no accidents had yet been recorded by the MIVB. She indicated that the current issues are a temporary consequence of nearby construction work and that the disruption should decrease in the coming weeks. A full redesign of the intersection at Wielemans Ceuppenslaan is being studied by Brussels Mobility, but will still take several years to materialise.
“It cannot be that residents of our city have to wonder daily: ‘Will I get across this intersection safely?’ Public transport should be a guarantee of road safety. A way to make our city safer, healthier, and more liveable. But the opposite is happening here. It's not just speeding or reckless drivers who pose a danger here, but the way our infrastructure is organised.” – Ilyas Mouani