Consultation launched into Avenue de Tervuren redesign

The public consultation for the redesign of Avenue de Tervuren has officially started, with plans to turn part of the avenue into a boulevard with fewer lanes, separate cycling paths and extra trees.

The plan comes after years of discussions with the municipalities involved, Bruzz reports, and concerns a stretch of more than one kilometre between Cinquantenaire and Place Leopold II.

It was a controversial project that took unusually long, with the Brussels region needing to strike a compromise with the Etterbeek and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre municipalities concerned before planning permission could be applied for.

After a compromise was reached in December last year, the application was reworked again and resubmitted ahead of the public inquiry’s launch.

The starting point for the reconstruction plans was the observation that the once-majestic avenue had become an urban highway of sorts. Brussels Mobility hopes to turn it into a green city boulevard where cyclists and pedestrians can once again travel safely.

The existing three lanes for car traffic would be reduced to two (in both directions), with a verge of green space in the middle and a bike path separated by two rows of trees in each direction, bringing the total of added trees to 80.

There will also be three new crossing points, each with traffic lights, intended to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to move from one side to the other and better connecting the residential areas on either side. The two service roads with parking lanes will remain but will change driving directions.

The number of parking spaces was a major concern for local residents and traders, prompting Brussels Mobility to promise to keep 98% of the existing ones.

The roundabout at Mérode – the site of numerous traffic accidents – will disappear and be replaced by an intersection with lights. Three lanes will still be reserved for cars, while around it will be a ring-shaped bike lane separated with greenery and another pedestrian ring.

The entire reconstruction is estimated to cost €11 million.

The public inquiry runs until 18 November and the consultation committee ruling is scheduled for 28 November.

The Montgomery-Tervuren neighbourhood committee, which has already hired a lawyer on the issue, plans to make its voice heard.

While the committee said it welcomed the arrival of new cycle lanes, it said that the project does not take into account the heritage value of the entire avenue, an argument shared by the Royal Commission on Monuments and Sites, which also opposes the proposed project of reconstruction.