Search form

menu menu
  • Daily & Weekly newsletters
  • Buy & download The Bulletin
  • Comment on our articles

Rue de la Loi the latest Brussels road to make more space for cyclists

20100919 - BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: Illustration picture shows bikers in the Wetstraat - Rue de la Loi, a main street of Brussels. (BELGA PHOTO BAS BOGAERTS)
06:29 27/09/2021

A section of Rue de la Loi in central Brussels will have one less car lane once work begins to transform the road into a safer thoroughfare for cyclists. The reduction of the road towards Rue des Colonies and Gare Centrale from three car lanes to two, allowing the bicycle lanes on each side of the road to be widened, will begin on Monday and will be completed by Wednesday. 

"Motorists and cyclists will be separated by a buffer zone," explained a spokesperson for Brussels councillor for mobility and public works Bart Dhondt. “The transformation will turn this main artery into a very long axis for cyclists, from the Cinquantenaire to Cantersteen and the Boulevard de l'Empereur.”

Once the old markings on the road have been removed, the new cycle lanes will be painted ochre in colour, to maintain the continuity with the lanes which already exist in the area.

"We noticed that it is the most-used axis with more than a thousand cyclists passing every day on the entire street," the spokesperson added. "The original cycle lanes were too narrow and not comfortable enough or safe enough."

The widening of the cycle paths on the route is just another step in the gradual but definite transformation of Brussels into a more cyclist-friendly city. “All these separate projects are now coming together,” the mobility spokesperson said. “And that pays off because we see many more cyclists. It is very satisfying that all efforts are appreciated."

According to the spokesperson, motorists need not be concerned: "A study has been carried out on the level of traffic and fluidity is ensured, the traffic will adapt. There will be no additional traffic jams in that area.”

 

Written by Nick Amies