2023-11-20 18:51:00
The small circular plain in the center of the Schuman roundregarding is now just a memory. This Monday, the workers were numerous to begin what turns out to be one of the biggest projects of the legislature. The barriers are placed, the workers parade, and, one by one, the meager trees are removed. On the mobility side, several restrictive measures are now applied: a strip has been removed in the roundregarding, and one lane has been removed on avenue de Cortenbergh.
Commuters, you have been warned: work to redevelop the Schuman roundregarding in Brussels will begin this Monday
“It’s going to be a mess,” fears Raphaël, from Pulp’, with a feeling of perpetual construction in the neighborhood. “Once the water, once the fiber, and then this.” “It’s very stressful. For me, and for others. This will be detrimental to all traders,” sighs Nicole, 81, in the neighborhood with her Thé 14 store since 1975.
Nicole, 81 years old, in the neighborhood with her Thé 14 store since 1975. ©JC Guillaume
”Currently, it is difficult to say what impact this project will have. But there will be one. With the traffic, the slush etc.,” notes Roger, at the typically Belgian brasserie De Duivelshoek.
Roger, at the typically Belgian brasserie De Duivelshoek ©JC Guillaume
On the other side of the roundregarding, Daria, of Ukrainian origin, opened a refined sandwich shop with her partner two weeks ago. “I didn’t know that the construction site was going to arrive,” breathes the young trader, still in the euphoria of the inauguration. “I hope we will keep the passage. I want to be able to create my clientele.” Same uncertainty on rue de la Loi. “In May, the construction site arrives in front of our house. We hope that people will still be able to get through,” we fear at Bon.
Daria has just opened her business, near the roundregarding ©JC GuillaumeThe Schuman roundregarding obtains its permit, construction begins before the end of the year: it will be redeveloped into an urban square almost free of cars
A project criticized
In addition to the construction site itself, the final project estimated at 25 million euros, the end of which is announced in winter 2025, arouses contrasting reactions. As a reminder, it is planned to make the titanic roundregarding “a new icon of Europe”. A large reflective and tree-lined canopy will be installed in the center, a nod to the shape of the European Parliament. Traffic will be completely revised. The roundregarding itself is over. A large pedestrian zone will be created. Car traffic will be limited to the part between avenue de Cortenberg and rue de la Loi.
”If I were not a trader, I would say: the project is nice. Because currently, it’s just a road,” says the manager of Duivelshoek. “We had to do something. These pedestrianizations are a good idea. Because let it be said: getting here by car is very complicated. Most customers come on foot from the local offices,” slips another trader between the roundregarding and the Cinquantenaire park.
An opinion far from being shared by everyone. “We are opposed to the project… but not to the fact of doing something. For traders, the real problem is the traffic cutoff at the roundregarding. We will have to make a big detour to come,” we lament at Thé 14. For Jean-Pierre, the awning is an aberration and the businesses on the outskirts of the project, between the roundregarding and the Ambiorix square, have been completely neglected.” We will have congestion and people will avoid the neighborhood.”
This file is also an administrative and legal saga. With a number of procedures, and several permits. An appeal has already been lodged once morest the first permit. New appeals from resident-merchants, for cancellation and suspension, will very soon be introduced for the second permit obtained.
No appeal from Etterbeek once morest the Schuman roundregarding: “an agreement has been reached”
What response does Beliris, the federal body in charge, respond to these appeals? Why launch the project despite the uncertainty? Radio silence at this time before the press conference for the groundbreaking, scheduled for this Wednesday. A “first” shovel which – by the way, given the construction site is already in full swing – is not really one…
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