The heavy traffic around the Barrière de Saint-Gilles in Brussels has been criticised again after a cyclist was nearly killed last week on the busy roundabout.
Last Thursday, a cyclist was seriously injured in a road accident on the Barrière de Saint-Gilles after being hit with a car. After the collision, he became trapped under the car and was taken to hospital in critical condition. Unfortunately, these types of accidents are not uncommon at the infamously chaotic roundabout.
Following the incident, mobility organisation the Cyclists’ Union Midi has called for a renewed sense of urgency to speed up upcoming plans to redesign the Barrière to make it less traffic-intensive.
"The Barrière is a terrible intersection: as many as seven streets open onto it, while the surface consists of cobblestones and tram tracks," president of the union, Anton Maertens, said. "It looks more like an obstacle course than an intersection."
He noted that many cyclists and pedestrians are frightened of crossing the roundabout due to the poor visibility and the chaotic traffic system with seven main roads and several tram lines crossing the area.
Improving safety
This latest accident is a prime example of the issues that the Saint-Gilles municipality and Brussels Mobility hope to tackle with the planned redevelopment of the area, announced last year. The plans aim to improve road safety for all users in the area and reduce the number of cars.
Brussels Mobility's spokesperson Steven Fierens confirmed that improving road safety is the main driver. "Tram traffic will be redirected to limit the amount of railing. On Avenue du Parc, the main road leading to Barrière, a separate cycle path will be installed uphill, while other parts of Avenue du Parc will be designed as a bicycle street (where cars can't overtake cyclists)."
The illustration shows plans for the Barrière de Saint-Gilles. Credit: Brussels Mobility
Maertens agreed that the steps the municipality has taken are positive. "Traffic will be reduced on the roundabout, there will be less chaos and Avenue du Parc will be less congested," he told The Brussels Times.
However, he criticised the fact that through traffic is not targeted in the plans. "In many rural municipalities in Flanders and Wallonia, through traffic is fined in some streets, while in Brussels, everyone is allowed to drive through everywhere," Maertens said.
The imbalance is particularly visible in Saint-Gilles, where more than half of residents do not own a car. "Essentially, this is a message to locals that they must simply accept that there is so much traffic, because many people travel through Brussels," something which he argued is reflected in the plans.
"For example, the plans don't include a separated cycle lane on the Barrière." He called on the government to redistribute space putting pedestrians, cyclists and public transport first.
Transformation moving slowly
The project received an urban development permit in May, however, works on improving the traffic situation have not yet begun.
"We are first allowing key utility companies to carry out underground works, as we always do," he told The Brussels Times. This work, which involves a lot of digging, is often carried out before road transformation works begin to avoid unnecessary digging at a later stage.
Vivaqua is now carrying out works that will take at least another six months, meaning Brussels Mobility will not start its work until the second half of 2025 at the earliest.
Maertens argued that, even taking into account the delay because of utility works, "it is not normal that everything takes so long in Brussels". He called on the future Brussels government (for which talks are still underway) to work towards a faster permit policy.
