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Brussels mayor rules out two of four new underground car parks

19:43 01/09/2016

Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur has scrapped two of the four planned new underground car parks within the city limits, he said in an interview with La Capitale. Car parks in the Nouveau Marché aux Grains (pictured) and Rue des Brigitinnes will not be built, he said.

A planned car park under Place du Jeu de Balle, home to the popular flea market, was previously cancelled after massive neighbourhood protest. “In time, and in co-operation with the Brussels Region, there will be two new car parks on the edge of the pentagon,” said Mayeur, referring to the city’s inner ring road. “One will be near metro station Yser on the side of the canal … and another close to South Station.”

The latter location might correspond to a plan announced previously to build one of the car parks at Place Rouppe, not far from the station. The loss of Rue des Brigitinnes comes as no surprise as the city was unable to find a suitable location and there were concerns about safety, with the busy North-South rail link running through the area.

The announcement of the scrapping of the Nouveau Marché aux Grains, however, comes as a surprise; according to Bruzz, the news is based only on Mayeur’s interview. To date, no decision has been taken by the Brussels-City council. La Capitale reports that, according to sources within the council, none of the contractors for the work was able to meet the demands of the tender, which included lower tariffs, places reserved for local residents and the preservation of trees on the square.

Photo courtesy Google

Written by Alan Hope

Comments

Anon2

The Tsar of Brussels.

Sep 2, 2016 07:41
jeromebelgium

Building new car parks without any other action only prolongs the inclination among residents of - and workers in - cites that they can own a private car, drive it to/from work in a city center, and park it nearby. The traffic, noise and air pollution that this causes in and around the city is intolerable. A better solution is to build above-ground (not underground), sheltered car parks at the periphery near subway stops and in the cities themselves that are in fact high rises - like Marina City in Chicago (with electric plugs for each space), forbid parking on increasing number of city streets (particularly traffic arteries), route parked cars (esp. on arteries) to these car parks, and turn all those long lanes of parked (unused) cars next to the street into bike/scooter lanes and temporary loading areas (in commercial areas). In time, Brussels (and other cities) would look more like New York City where there are more taxi/ride-sharers, bikers, scooter-users, subway users, and pedestrians than private car users.

Sep 2, 2016 12:45
CC_R

Jeromebelgium are your seriously suggesting anything that is better I. New York? I've been twic the traffic is horrendous. What is needed is more park and ride schemes to discourage people from driving into town and an intergrated transport system from outside the communes. It's crazy where I can or can't get from my Flemish speaking home can I easily get to the next commune NO can I get to Leuven or etterbeek yes!

Sep 2, 2016 15:00