The first phase of the transformation of the infamous Schuman Roundabout at the heart of Brussels' European Quarter started this week, but unhappy local residents are not giving up their protests of the redevelopment plans.
It has been years in the making – discussions about how to improve the space and reduce the frequent traffic jams have been ongoing since 2015 – but the works to turn the hectic, car-heavy Schuman Roundabout into a "real town square" began on Monday 20 November. The final permit for the process was delivered at the end of October.
The €25 million project envisages a large pedestrian zone, traffic will be reduced to one lane, while a safer and more visible cycle path will be added around the roundabout and on both sides of Rue de la Loi to make it a meeting place. The works to realise this will take more than two years, Beliris said last week.
The works will be carried out in several phases, starting with the demolition of the centre of the roundabout between 20 November to 22 December 2023.
During this first phase, traffic will be limited to two lanes on Avenue Cortenbergh and the northern half of the roundabout (Archimedes and Cortenberg side), and to one lane on the southern half of the roundabout (Froissart and Oudergemlaan side). No diversions are currently planned and public transport will continue to operate.
'Unacceptable project'
Despite the fact that the first steps have been taken to redesign the Schuman roundabout, and the process is officially in full swing, local residents are continuing their fight against it.
Neighbourhood association GAQ launched a petition addressed to Minister-President Rudi Vervoort just three days before the digging on the roundabout started, calling on him to stop the construction project, which it argued would cause "immense traffic problems."
The group argued that it was neither necessary nor justified to spend €25 million to redevelop a roundabout. "This amount is astronomical and unacceptable in the current economic and social context." Solutions must be found to ensure that motorised transit traffic is not shifted to residential and quiet streets but remains on major office routes even after the one-lane system is implemented, the local group stress.
Planning permission for the project was originally delivered at the end of 2021 but the municipality of Etterbeek, where Schuman is located, and several neighbourhood committees lodged an appeal against the building permit. The last plans ensured that two-way traffic would remain possible on Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée, and Etterbeek was on board. However, locals remain opposed to the plans.
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For the second time, GAQ together with the overarching Association du Quartier Léopold are taking the matter to the Council of State to stop the works, Bruzz reported. The case is expected to be filed in early December, and the group hopes they can still stop the project even after the first brick is laid by having the permit suspended or cancelled at the Council of State.
However, the court has not yet ruled on the first appeal filed a year ago, bringing into question the feasibility of the appeal as a means to stop the project.
