Region offers help for new cycle paths

Brussels region has offered financial help to the 19 municipalities of the region for the laying of common cycle paths, for cycle signalisation and the installation of cycle equipment such as bike-racks, secretary of state for mobility Bruno De Lille has announced.

“The municipalities' mobility policy is inextricably linked to the mobility challenges facing the region,” De Lille said. “To meet those challenges, and to implement a coherent mobility policy, the region is increasing its support for the municipalities.”

Regional-municipal cooperation is nothing new. It has already seen cycle-boxes installed in Jette and Schaerbeek, and racks in Ixelles. Other municipalities have started waiting lists of residents who have requested cycle-boxes in which bikes can be locked up. The region also supports the BYPAD – a European audit of municipal bicycle policy which identifies problem areas and suggests possible solutions to make cycling safer, easier, faster and greener.

“Cycling is usually the fastest and most efficient way to get around Brussels,” De Lille said. “The region has made cycling policy one of the priorities of its Regional Mobility Plan Iris2. And now, to move up a gear on a local level, we are also strengthening our support for the municipalities,” he said.

Image credit: Han Soete/Flickr Commons