Despite calls from Brussels and Wallonia to postpone plans due to fears over safety and major traffic jams, Flanders is pushing ahead with the next phase of the works on the Leonard crossroads on the outskirts of the capital, closing the exit towards Waterloo.
Renovation work on the Leonard Tunnel – where the E411 motorway and the Brussels Ring Road R0 meet in Tervuren – has been ongoing for more than a year now. This project causes considerable disruption to the inner ring road, as a lane of traffic from the Quatre Bras de Tervuren is closed. During the first phase of the works, it came to light that the damage to the side walls of the entrances and the tunnel slabs was greater than expected.
The Flemish Government therefore decided additional work would have to be carried out from 16 April, involving the closure of the E411 access ramp from Auderghem to the inner ring road in the direction of Waterloo.
The Auderghem municipality and the Walloon and Brussels Regions feared that, without accompanying measures, this would cause heavy traffic, as 100,000 vehicles cross the Leonard junction every day. They therefore asked for the works to be postponed. However, Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters decided not to accede to the request.
No acceptable framework
The temporary measure, under which the "right turn" will remain partially open, will expire on Thursday. This means that vehicles on the E411 coming from Auderghem and Herrmann-Debroux will no longer be able to turn right onto the Brussels Ring Road towards Waterloo.
"We are worried about Thursday," Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt told The Brussels Times in a statement. "Not only about the traffic jams but also about safety, because the detour is not on point and could therefore lead to a lack of safety in residential areas," she said. She added that she regrets that Flanders did not listen to the request for postponement. "Now, these works are being started without an acceptable framework."
Translation: "Brussels Traffic Information Agency works of Wegen en Verkeer at Leonard crossroads: from 16/04, closure of E411 access ramp from Auderghem to R0 inner ring road towards Waterloo."
Her cabinet added that consultation took place between Van den Brandt and Peeters on Tuesday during the interministerial conference on Mobility, but that the Flemish authorities were "inflexible" and the situation remains "politically blocked". Brussels and Wallonia will continue to push for further postponement and will try to work constructively to avoid chaos and find solutions for commuters.
Meanwhile, the Auderghem municipality has taken Flanders to court over the matter. Mayor Sophie de Vos believes that Flanders has not sufficiently consulted with the other regions about the potential traffic disruption the works could cause.
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The case, in which de Vos will refer to the special law of 8 August 1980 on institutional reform that stipulates that slip roads on the Brussels Ring Road (R0) can only be closed or rendered unusable after consultation between the Regions, will come before the court of first instance on Wednesday.
The works are expected to continue until the beginning of 2025. The recommended routes for motorists leaving Brussels are Avenue de Tervueren (N3) – which is already routinely blocked by traffic jams without additional works – to join the Ring Road at Quatre Bras, or Avenue Franklin Roosevelt (N24), Boulevard du Souverain and Avenue Delleur (R22) and then Chaussée de la Hulpe (N275) to join the Ring R0 at Groenendaal in the direction of Waterloo.
