Rue de la Loi may have a two-way cycle path, separated from car traffic and pedestrians after a test showed the impact of the cycle path, according to Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Green). Van den Brandt responded to a question from Anne-Charlotte d’Ursel (MR) in the mobility committee.
The minister recalled that Rue de la Loi is one of the most used bicycle routes in the region. The number of pedestrians is also high, so there was a great need for wider pedestrian and bicycle paths. Therefore, a test set-up was developed.
The test showed that the impact of the cycle path is positive for cyclists and pedestrians, while the turnaround time for motorised transport has only increased slightly between Cinquantenaire Park and Arts-Loi after reducing the number of lanes from four to three.
The number of cyclists rose to more than 200,000 in June this year, an increase compared to June 2021 of 61.5% on the north side and 70.3% on the south side of Rue de la Loi. This was evident from counts on both sides of the road.
“We have established that a majority of cyclists use the south side of Rue de la Loi (downhill). This further reinforces our choice to redesign the south side,” said Van den Brandt.
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Of the three scenarios that were studied and submitted to the municipalities and the advisory committee, a two-way cycle path, separated from traffic and pedestrians, may be chosen, the minister said.
In this way, the current situation is perpetuated and improved, with special attention being paid to the prevention of accidents with left-turning cars.
Things can still evolve with two more lanes in the future. For motorised transport, TomTom data on Tuesdays and Thursdays in March 2019 and 2022 showed that transit times increased by one minute in the morning rush hour and by two minutes in the evening rush hour.
The urban planning application will be submitted at the end of this year. The minister hopes that work can start in 2024.
