After the ‘Ski Hut’ at Vier-Armen, Tervurenaars were quick to choose ‘Bowling Alley’ as the name for the hastily installed traffic bollards just after the Jazz Fountain. And if you believe Facebook’s vociferous commentators, the town is divided on whether the plastic bollards actually enhance safety or pose a new danger for pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers alike.
This is an accident waiting to happen for one disgruntled Tervuren resident. He related fears to Tervuren+ of motorists seeing the bollards too late and driving right through them on to poor cyclists. Similarly, for the town’s many Facebook commentators, the new traffic measure is already posing an outright danger to life and limb. Car-drivers are swerving out into the middle of the traffic to avoid the bollards, they say.
Many understand the reasoning that motivates town hall: the cycle/pedestrian path suddenly stops without warning. And budgets are running low, especially with town debts of some €40 million. Pedestrians as well as cyclists using the forthcoming F29 cycle route in the Broekstraat may need better protection from speeding cars. But could a better solution not have been thought of?
What will happen at peak traffic picks up? Some already have the answer: delivery lorries, cars and busses will be lined up in both directions. “It’s going to be fun,” said a Facebook commentator. “Yet another nice piece of stupidity,” he added. “This thing is criminal. There’s no sign indicating that the road changes from two lanes to one,” said another.
“Millions are being spent on a bicycle bridge that no one needs, while here there’s only a cheap solution,” complains a cyclist. Why not put a cycle bridge there? “We have the expertise,” quipped a Facebook commentator, also pointing to Tervuren’s Ski Hut.
Tervuren’s bowling alley may not last long with local politicians sparring and heating up as elections approach. In theory, Flemish nationalist mayor Marc Charlier (NV-A) could step in and order the bollards to be torn up in the name of safety. That’s a bitter lesson that Kraainem mayor Bertrand Waucquez learnt this month too. Waucquez had to backtrack after a few days and remove similar traffic bollards along Kraainem’s Oudstrijderslaan. “They were not ideally placed and it was best to remove them until a better solution was found,” Waucquez said.
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