'Urban rodeos' leaving Brussels residents frustrated and exhausted

Residents of Laeken, near the Atomium in Brussels, say they are fed up with the loud, disruptive "urban rodeo" street races being held in their neighbourhood.

“[The area] has really become a meeting place for people with big cars with modified engines,” Félix Vandemeulebroek of the Stop Rodeo Atomium citizens' platform said.

“As soon as the weather's fine, it's every day. They come from the end of the day until late at night. They also come on weekends during the day. They meet at the bottom of the Atomium. It makes for great videos and images for Instagram.”

The neighbourhood around the Atomium has wide and long lanes, which are another part of what draws the drivers.

The citizens’ platform said the phenomenon has been taking place for eight years now and is only growing. People with obnoxious cars come to the area and drive them loudly and performatively, blast music and sometimes even set off fireworks.

These gatherings are a regular occurrence, with a Stop Rodeo Atomium survey revealing that that 80% of a nearly 1,000-resident sample experienced significant inconvenience from the "urban rodeos" several times a week, or even several times a day.

Half of respondents said they have difficulty falling asleep or are woken in the night by noise from roaring engines, screeching tyres, loud music or fireworks. Another 30% say they feel intimidated by rodeo riders and avoid certain streets.

In all, 85 streets were reported to be affected by noise pollution caused by the vehicles.

“We've already cut off all traffic on more than half the area, the whole of the Osseghem park side,” said Brussels mayor Philippe Close.

“On the other side, we've installed speed bumps all over the place. Finally, we're going to be able to close down immediately with the police as soon as a gathering appears. Obviously, we can't completely prevent Heysel plateau from operating, because it's one of our city's economic lungs.”

Local resident Philippe Lemoine said these measures are ineffective when deployed mainly as a response mechanism.

“Nobody disputes that the city has taken initiatives, but we'd like to see these initiatives become permanent and structural,” Lemoine told RTBF.

“Here, it's always a bit cosmetic. Concrete blocks left and right that don't prevent bad road users from completely blocking the road.”

Police have seized 67 vehicles from offenders since the start of this year alone.

“Offenders can be prosecuted by the police court or, in the most serious cases, they can be prosecuted by the public prosecutor's office for malicious obstruction of road traffic, with the possibility of the vehicle being seized administratively,” said Christian Raes of the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police zone.

On Sunday, local residents will stage a protest at 15.00 at the Atomium, asking the Brussels city council to replace its "symptom control" strategy with a more structural solution.