Residents respond to new circulation plan in Ghent (2): “My patients arrive late or cancel. It is a daily occurrence” (Ghent)

“I run the pharmacy on Heilig-Hartplein and am one of the few remaining traders in this district. Because the parking lots Since the Heilig-Hartplein is no longer accessible to cars from Doornakkerstraat, there is no possibility for my patients from that direction to park. The cars have to detour 850 meters to reach parking spaces that are only 5 meters away. The logic of this escapes me. Wouldn’t it be a shame if I lost customers because of this mobility plan?

“I live in Bouwmeestersstraat and do as much as possible by bike. But I drive to work and do major shopping by car. What used to be relaxing is now relaxing one big frustration. The major roads are too busy and the shortcuts are not a good thing either. Living on the outskirts was nice, I have lived there for almost sixty years, but now you are suddenly in the hustle and bustle of the city. I hope for a thorough evaluation that is viable for everyone, not just people with bicycles and children.”

“I have a continuous view of the Dendermondsesteenweg. It is now being pretended that the traffic jams are solely the fault of the circulation plan. But they were already there before. The difference is that at that time many cars, vans and freight traffic were looking for a shortcut through the neighborhoods, often at high speed. Now everyone has to be on the axle, and the neighborhoods are safer. There are certainly areas for improvement, but I think so a big improvement for safety, except for the situation around Gentbruggebrug. I hope that the loudest shouters, which are often only a minority, will not ensure that the plan is scrapped.”

“As expected, freight traffic has increased in our street. Logical because through the truck lock in Burvenichstraat they have no choice but to drive through Rinskopflaan. But the consequences are corresponding. The lock is only 2.5 meters high, even the emergency services drive against it. Buses that pick up and drop off children after school have to drive in circles, which means the children spend longer on the road. Just next to the lock, an opening has been left to allow emergency services to pass, but over the footpath…. How is this safer?”

“As a resident of Adolf Baeyensstraat with school-age children in the Visitation School at Campo Santo, I am very happy with the plan. Through traffic in our street has decreased enormously. Before the mobility plan, there was no question of letting my children cycle to school themselves. The few times we tried this, we almost lost a child in traffic several times. Now, with the introduction of this neighborhood mobility plan, I am starting to think that it may be possible to let them cycle safely, under supervision. It is quite a relief.”

“It may be quieter in some streets, but in other streets such as Scaldisstraat, where I live, it is busier and more dangerous become. This is also a play street during the school holidays. What’s the point of implementing this plan if you’re just transferring the problem to other streets and making it more dangerous for cyclists? I have no understanding of this plan at all and do not know who is involved in this and who approved it. Is Mr Watteeuw going to wait until there are victims? And where is the mayor of Ghent?”

“I am an independent home nurse and, like my team, often have to travel from Sint-Amandsberg to Gentbrugge. In the precious time we are now losing, we would rest easy two or three additional patients can take care of. We are now forced to no longer be very flexible towards our patients and we have to adjust our rounds to the plan. This means everyone gets a different time. People who like to be cared for in the morning sometimes have to be taken to the afternoon or vice versa. A painful thing.”

“Some streets have become quieter. Of course, that’s normal because everyone was just dumped on the Dendermondsesteenweg. I do no quieter streetI just want to get home quickly. It used to take me two minutes to get from Jan Delvinlaan to Nekkersvijverstraat. Now I have to drive all the way around. What is that necessary for? What is the added value?”

“All dangerous intersections that I use by bike are safer. So for me it’s okay. Destelbergen, a wealthy municipality, apparently has a problem, one car problem. In the past, they could enter Ghent along the Scheldt. But that is a densely built-up residential area, so it is reasonable to keep through traffic out of there. Now they are obliged to take the Dendermondsesteenweg. But they cannot change their ingrained habits. There are many more of us in Ghent. If everyone’s voice is equal, they have to adapt, not us.”

“I lose significantly more time on simple daily tasks, such as shopping. Previously, I could reach the bakery, 700 meters from my house, in just two minutes by car. Now I need one making a detour which takes me twelve minutes, although the distance remains the same. A visit to the Colruyt, a simple journey of 700 meters, now also takes much longer. It is not feasible to travel fifteen minutes for a distance of only 700 meters. I understand that there are alternatives, such as walking or cycling, but this is not practical for shopping.”

“We live in Gentbruggekouter and I see that there is much more traffic along the school t’ Groen Drieske. That is certainly not to the advantage of the children. Things have become terrible due to the introduction of the mobility plan in Gentbrugge. We have to make a lot of detours, there are unnecessary traffic jams, there is inconvenience for residents in the affected streets and the situation is unsafe for cyclists.”

“Thanks to the neighborhood mobility plan, Louis Vanhouttestraat is now the only gateway to the entire neighborhood. That has advantages: my store gets more exposure. Everyone who comes into the neighborhood now passes here. But there are also disadvantages: it has become life-threatening for pedestrians in Louis Vanhouttestraat. This narrow one streets are too narrow as coronary arteries for the opening up of entire neighborhoods with oncoming cyclists, cargo bikes, scooters…

“We cycle to the city at least twice a day with children aged ten and twelve for school and other activities. The Gentbruggestraat is safer, the pentagon quieter. There is noticeably more traffic from Toekomststraat towards Wolterslaan. That cannot be the intention. Another message for the mayor of Destelbergen: the crossing in front of the Lidl on the Dendermondsesteenweg is life-threatening. Many children make that crossing every day to cycle to the football match at Jago. There should at least be traffic calmers and at least a traffic light.”

“I have a dental practice in Adolf Baeyensstraat. Many patients need a car to get to us due to limited mobility. Because there is only one way to get here, patients now come on average twenty minutes late on consultation. Canceling because they can no longer get here on time due to traffic jams is also a daily occurrence. The operation of the practice has been severely disrupted. That is irresponsible. We cannot simply change the agenda. There was no problem on this street.”

“I have lived in the Oude Brusselseweg all my life and drive my car and my bicycle. I really can’t understand the adjustments. Some streets get much more traffic, others much less. My street has become a one-way street, there are now at least two people driving every day forty cars more who previously did not have to pass here. And there is no one who can tell me the point of driving around Gentbruggebrug before driving over it. No one. Not even Mr Watteeuw.”

“My company of eight people is located in Nekkersvijverstraat. Our warehouse is located as the crow flies fifty meters away, in the Destelbergenstraat. If we need something we have to go through Nekkersvijverstraat, to Lossystraat, over Dendermondsesteenweg to Gentbruggestraat and then at the pentagon to Destelbergenstraat. This always has to be done with the van because that is not possible with the (cargo) bike. I am not pleased with the effort my staff has to make to get to work on time.”

“I live on Land van Waaslaan. Around 8 o’clock in the morning I see a traffic jam towards Dampoort, as far as my eye can see. In the evening around 5 p.m. I see the same thing, but in the opposite direction. The situation in our street is there has deteriorated sharply with the new circulation plan. Should we just deal with all the nuisance?”

“I live on the edge of Gentbruggebrug and have never seen dangerous situations or accidents there. I work at Ghent University Hospital and take the bridge twice every day. It’s frustrating having to leave even earlier to work because I have to drive around to get to the bridge. The changed route at the bottom of the bridge is extremely dangerous and frustrations between cars and cyclists have never been as high as they are now. I have always been proud to live in Ghent and never had the intention of moving, but now I think differently.”

“I compared the routes I usually take with the routes in the neighborhood mobility plan. For shopping, informal care, hobbies… If I add everything up, that will add about forty kilometers every week. At 52 weeks per year, this means approx 2,000 additional kilometers per year. On an annual basis I lose about 270 euros, about six hours a week and therefore about 312 hours a year. The mobility plan is for cyclists, but who thinks about all those who depend on their car?”

“I go on foot, by bike and sometimes by car, from Gentbrugge to Sint-Amandsberg. I don’t really know what to think about the circulation plan. What I do know is that the problem has now simply shifted. Traffic remains the same, but is now at a standstill on other streets. So I fear that now those people to complain, and rightly so. Nothing has been solved or made safer.”

“I have lived in Bouwmeestersstraat for twenty years, a nice and quiet place. It has been since the new circulation plan a shortcut. But our street is barely wide enough for cars to pass through. It is an old cobblestone road, where cycling is now very dangerous. This causes non-residents to race at a speed of more than fifty kilometers per hour. My house is constantly shaking from passing traffic.”