December 2021

Closure of the central berm on av. of Wezembeek

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

During the summer of 2021, AWV (the agency in charge of regional roadworks in our commune) redeveloped the Avenue de Wezembeek – Avenue Reine Astrid – Rue Jules Adant crossroads.
Why? To improve traffic flow and safety for all road users by reducing conflicts at intersections.
As you may have noticed, the planned crossing at rue Jules Adant has been closed with concrete blocks for a test phase lasting a few months. This period of
test is now complete.

NOTICE FROM AWV AND THE WOKRA POLICE ZONE

At the end of the test phase, the WOKRA police zone and AWV have issued their opinion. They both advocate the permanent closure of the central berm. Here are the main reasons:
– The extension of the left-turn lane from avenue de Wezembeek into avenue Reine Astrid has improved traffic flow at this intersection. The consequence of this extension is that there are now two lanes of traffic at the level of the junction with rue Jules Adant, and closing the central berm avoids a potentially very dangerous situation: a car driving on the first lane of traffic on avenue de Wezembeek slows down to let a car/bike coming from rue J. Adant enter the crossing, but a car driving on the second lane of traffic doesn’t realize this and risks mowing down the car/bike continuing its crossing. So safety is improved for everyone.
– For motorists:
– Coming from the districts of Les Bluets, Bouvier Washer and Rue Jules Adant (numbers 12 to 49): the U-turn at the Astrid/Wezembeek crossroads is totally safe thanks to the intelligent traffic lights programmed for this purpose.
– Coming from the rest of rue Jules Adant (from no. 53): the recommended alternative is to take avenue Reine Astrid via rue Verte or avenue Hébron.
– For cyclists: crossing avenue de Wezembeek is much safer via the avenue reine Astrid cycle path.
– In conclusion: reopening the central berm would now create a much more dangerous situation for road users than before the left-turn lane was extended.

TOWN COUNCIL DECISION

On January 25, 2022, the local council, for whom safety is a priority, decided unanimously (majority + opposition) to follow the advice of the WOKRA and AWV police zones and close the central berm for good.

LET’S SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT

What MR and Défi claim on social media and in their October/November 2021 flyer.

Avenue de Wezembeek – Rue Jules Adant, October 2021 on fb: “The closure of the central berm is definitive. No ‘test phase’ was ever envisaged, as Kraainem-Unie claims. This dossier is well and truly closed. According to the latest rumors, these bollards will be positioned for the Kraainem carnival procession. Wegen en Verkeer confirms a definitive closure without any test phase”.

VERIFYING THE FACTS

The AWV (Agency for Roads and Traffic) itself has repeatedly confirmed in an e-mail to the municipality that this is a pilot project. Confirmed by AWV on 20/7/2021 and 10/11/2021 by team leader:

“I am not aware that the closure of Rue J. Adant is considered definitive by the AWV and would like to refute this claim. The temporary nature of this closure is also demonstrated by the fact that the current closure is “removable”. A permanent closure would have been perfectly possible by physically extending the central reservation, but it was deliberately built in this way. We still consider this to be a test project, as evidenced by …”.

HISTORY

  1. At the express request of public works alderman Johan Forton, AWV (Agency for Roads and Traffic) has been asked in early summer 2021 to make a break in the central reservation at Rue Jules Adanstraat, so that the passage can still be used in the event of serious disruption.   
  2. 20/07/2021: the Collège du Bourgmestre et Echevins of July 20, 2021 discusses the interruption of the median strip and the test phase of the Avenue de Wezembeek in the presence of 3 aldermen from the MR and Défi opposition (Elisabeth de Foestraets, Véronique Caprasse, Anne-Charlotte Sala). The minutes show it.  
  3. 20/07/2021: AWV’s position is confirmed by an email from Mr Bossuyt, Traffic and Signalling Team Leader, which clearly shows that the concrete blocks are not definitive. Reconfirmed on 10/11/2021. (appendix 1)    
  4. 23/08/2021: A letter dated August 23, 2021 (signed by the General Manager and the Mayor and Alderman for Mobility) informs local residents of the test phase (Appendix 2). A general manager would never sign a letter containing lies.  
  5. Mid-October 2021: on fb ‘Les Bons Plans de Kraainem’: the demands of the Défi/MR local councillors on the Facebook group ‘Les bons plans de Kraainem’ can be found in Appendix 3. The messages were published from October 12, 2021. The allegation that the test phase at the intersection of Avenue de Wezembeek and Rue J. Adant was “a lie on the part of Kraainem-Unie”. Another councillor equated the “lies” of Kraainem-Unie’s representatives about the concrete blocks in avenue de Wezembeek with the public works plans to reduce part of avenue de Tervuren to a single lane as part of the work on a cycle path. From the outset, Kraainem-Unie would have accepted the “cut” in both cases. In both cases, this is incorrect: for Avenue de Wezembeek, we refer you to the above. With regard to the bike lane on Avenue de Tervuren, Kraainem-Unie has never spoken out in favor of removing a lane, and no evidence is provided in this regard. However, at the time, Kraainem-Unie was not opposed to AWV counting car traffic, provided it was carried out under real conditions (i.e. not during vacations or lock-downs). Here, too, a local councillor weaves a web of untruths on Facebook that have no basis in reality.  
  6. Mid-October 2021 on fb ‘Les Bons Plans de Kraainem’: The claim that this had anything to do with the Carnafolk parade is also not correct, and Carnafolk’s letter dated 1/10/2021 announcing the cessation of all activities makes the allegation even more implausible (appendix 4). Clearly, the councillors concerned have not sought any information on this subject from the alderman concerned, even though their group has three aldermen in the college. 
  7. Mid-October 2021: The official Facebook pages of the local Défi and MR groups also published this information, even though, as mentioned above, their aldermen were present at the July 20 college meeting and were therefore aware of the AWV’s position regarding the test phase on avenue Wezembeeklaan (appendix 5).  
  8. Early November 2021: Still in the Défi/MR flyer “Le journal des élus” (received in the mailbox on 6/11/2021), the incorrect statement is repeated (“NO: kraainem-unie has never negotiated any ‘test phase’ concerning the closure of the central berm Rue J. Adant / Av de Wezembeek. Wegen en Verkeer confirms definitive closure without any test phase’.). This means that the problem no longer concerns just the two councillors and the three aldermen, but that the entire opposition is now at odds with the code of ethics. (Pierre Simon and Bruno Vandersteen, Défi/MR municipal councillors, are the authors of the leaflet in question) (appendix 6). 
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