LOOK. Several tunnels under railways flooded after exceptionally heavy rain in Kortrijk, northern part of Magerstraat in Sente closed | Kortrijk
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The railway tunnel in Burgemeester Felix de Bethunelaan in Kortrijk was flooded again. That happened a few times before. “Several tunnels under railways were flooded on Tuesday,” says Public Works Councilor Axel Weydts (Vooruit). In rural Sente, the northern part of Magerstraat is closed. And what about the Heulebeek?
Felix de Bethunelaan was closed to through traffic on Tuesday morning, on a strip between the roundabouts with Marksesteenweg and Wegvoeringenlaan. Cyclists and pedestrians were still able to pass. The fire brigade and technical service of the city of Kortrijk quickly arrived on the scene, as did the police.
Consideration was given to clearing the street gullies in the tunnel’s gutter. These were also hidden here and there due to the heavy leaf fall as a result of the stormy weather of the past days and weeks. The tunnel has also been flooded several times before, such as on June 24, 2022, when a car fell silent in the water, and on August 13, 2020, when two cars were left there.
Alderman for Public Works Axel Weydts (Vooruit) previously announced that he would have additional water receivers installed. “On the city center side, these have been tackled and are doing their job, on the other side a few still need to be tackled. But for this the tunnel must be closed for a few days. This is not possible as long as the new road tunnel at the Panorama roundabout (which is in principle expected to open this year, ed.) is not open. The bottleneck in the tunnel in the Bethunelaan is mainly an overflow with a collector, which cannot handle the flow during heavy peaks and pushes the water onto the road through the covers,” explains Axel Weydts.
The Heulebeek has been above the normal level for several days and even with a drier period, a lot of water still has to come down from the higher areas. We’ll keep a close eye on it
Alderman Axel Weydts
“The cloudburst on Tuesday morning was immense,” Alderman Weydts continues. “Almost all the tunnels under the railways were flooded in Kortrijk. This was also the case in Vredelaan and Meensestraat… The peak showers are very intense and rather exceptional, although they have become more common in recent years. The overall rainfall is still not too bad, but since we have been in a rainy period for a long time, all watercourses have been at their maximum for a while and then not much is needed. The ground is also saturated. For example, the Heulebeek has been above the normal level for several days and even with a drier period, a lot of water still has to come down from the higher areas. We’ll keep a close eye on it. Our city services are on the ground en masse to work together with the police and fire brigade.”
Magerstraat
The northern part of Magerstraat in rural Sente has also been closed since Tuesday. “It concerns the part between St. Katharinastraat and Sentestraat. The stream there is currently unable to drain the amount of water sufficiently smoothly, which means that the road surface is flooded and the adjacent canals are not visible.”
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