30kph around Ixelles ponds from Sunday

The speed limit in the streets around the Ixelles ponds is being reduced to 30kph. The new speed limit will take effect next Sunday, 1 March.

The Ixelles city council made the decision not to wait for the capital-region’s speed limit changes expected to take place sometime next year. “The traffic safety situation means that we cannot wait,” mobility councillor Yves Rouyet (Ecolo) told Bruzz. “It also gives us the opportunity to test some measures with a view to most of the capital-region turning into a 30kph zone next year.”

The new reduced speed limit includes all of the avenues that run along the ponds, such as Eperons d’Or and Général de Gaulle, and between the ponds. Several surrounding streets near the Flagey cultural centre are already 30kph zones.

In fact, some of the stretches around the ponds are already zone 30, but not consistently so. This causes confusion as well as unconscious speeding in the 30kph zones. There is no grace period for the new speed limits; starting on Sunday, anyone caught speeding around the ponds will be fined.

The Ixelles ponds are a popular spot for joggers, pedestrians and families, so more traffic safety measures are coming to the area. These include speed cushions and traffic cams. Priority to the right is also disappearing in Square du Souvenir, which runs between the ponds. And this summer Souvenir will become a play street, closed to traffic.

Photo courtesy Google