15.10.2021

Fenclosure of the central berm av de Wezembeek What’s happening?

Avenue de Wezembeek – Rue Jules AdantOctober 2021 on fb: “The closure of the central berm is definitive. No ‘test phase’ has ever been envisaged as claimed by Kraainem-United. This file is now closed. According to the latest rumours, these bollards will be positioned for the passage of the carnival procession from Kraainem. Wegen en Verkeer confirms definitive closure without any test phase”.

This is what MR and Défi claim on social media and in their October/November 2021 flyer.

Fact check:

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 :

  • At the express request of Alderman for Public Works Johan Forton, the AWV (Agency for Roads and Traffic) was asked in early summer 2021 to make a break in the central reservation at Rue Jules Adanstraat, so that the crossing could still be used in the event of serious disruption.
  • 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.
  • 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)
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • Early November 2021: Again 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 above-mentioned leaflet) (appendix 6).

Appendix 1:

Confirmation by AWV of the phase test 20/07/2021 and 10/11/2021

Appendix 2:

Letter dd 23/08/2021 the manager general of the commune, so that the mayor and the alderman of the mobility, confirming the phase test

Appendix 3 :

FB post mi-octobre 2021 on page fb Good Plans de Kraainem’ page 

Appendix 4:

Announcement of Carnafolk le on October 2021 that the carnival in Kraainem ends 

Appendix 5:

On the fb from Challenge-MR mi-octobre: 

Appendix6:

Extrait du tract all-box from MR-Challenge from November 2021