Anonymous donor gives another €800,000 for Brussels bike improvements

As bicycle use skyrockets in Brussels an anonymous donor has given another €800,000 via the King Baudouin Foundation to support 10 new bicycle infrastructure projects in the city.

The Bikes in Brussels Fund was set up at the end of 2018 at the King Baudouin Foundation and is funded by an anonymous benefactor. The fund distributes money on a regular basis to support bicycle projects in Brussels.

As per the foundation, the aim is to "enable more people to choose the bicycle as a preferred, safe and efficient means of transport in and to the Brussels-Capital Region."

Brussels Mobility, for example, will receive aid in the amount of €350,000 to widen one of the oldest cycle paths on Boulevard du Souverain from two to four metres and to paint it the ocher color that is characteristic of Brussels cycle paths. In Ixelles, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) obtained support in the amount of €290,390 to build a cycle path between its campus and that of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). This also includes safe, covered bicycle parking.

There are also smaller amounts for the municipality of Forest (€40,000) for better markings for bicycle paths and new car-shaped bicycle parking spaces. The Schaerbeek primary school De Muziekladder will receive €30,000 for bicycle parking and in the same municipality, Maison Médicale Le Noyer will receive €15,000 for two covered bicycle parking facilities.

In Watermael-Boitsfort there is €28,000 for covered bicycle parking at the Ecole des Cèdres and the Ecole de la Sapinière. The Collège Fra-Angelico in Evere will also receive €26,000 for safe bicycle parking.

Finally, money is also earmarked for bicycle parking at the Institut Royal pour Sourds et Aveugles in Uccle (€22,000), the non-profit organisation Le Cailloux in the same municipality (€6,000) and the Maison de Jeunes Rezolution in Anderlecht (€5,000).

With these new projects aimed at improving cycling infrastructure in Brussels, the Fund will have supported 37 initiatives for a total amount of almost €3.5 million.