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Find out moreThis summer saw the start of roadworks on the Brussels Ring. On August 17, Flemish Minister of Mobility Ben Weyts launched the excavation work by cutting the first sod for the construction of a separate bike path along Koning Albert I-laan in Vilvoorde.
The work on the Brussels Ring is part of a large-scale mobility project spanning Flanders and Brussels and costing €3 billion in total (including tram and bike infrastructure). It will include major work on a 20-km section of the Brussels Ring, 60 km of bike paths and the expansion of the Brabantnet, which comprises two tram lines and one tram-bus line and is intended to improve public transport in Flemish Brabant and make the airport more accessible.
Tractebel is playing a prominent role in all this, having been assigned to work on the Brabantnet and produce an environmental impact assessment report for the work on the Brussels Ring (plan-MER R0) :
The Brabantnet project
The temporary partnership between Tractebel, Ney and Bureau Bas Smets is drawing up the study on the Brabantnet's three aforementioned tram lines. The first of these, the so-called Ringtrambus, will connect Brussels Airport to the University Hospital Brussels in Jette (UZ Brussels). The vehicles running on this line will be 24-m-long 'tram-buses', never used before in Belgium. The first such vehicles will be deployed in spring 2019, operating largely on existing and slightly adapted infrastructure. Gradually more, longer sections of free track bedding will be laid, ultimately comprising a fully-fledged high-quality public transport system, internationally more commonly known as a 'bus rapid transit system'.
The work that started in August, the construction of the cycle path along the Koning Albert I-laan in Vilvoorde, constitutes the first accompanying measure, aimed at presenting the bicycle as an attractive alternative alongside more efficient public transport in the run-up to the actual reconstruction of the Brussels Ring.
Brussels Ring environmental impact report (plan-MER R0)
Regarding the construction of the Brussels Ring, the Flemish Government recently commissioned the temporary partnership between Tractebel and Antea Belgium to draft an environmental impact report (plan-MER) within the framework of the integrated planning process for the Regional Development Plan (RUP) aimed at redeveloping the northern part of the Brussels Ring (R0). This redevelopment concerns the section of the Brussels Ring between the junctions at Groot-Bijgaarden and Sint-Stevens-Woluwe. The temporary partnership is putting together a team of accredited experts to draw up the environmental impact assessment report (EIA). The following aspects will be examined: people and mobility, people and space, people and health, noise and vibrations, air quality, impact on the soil, groundwater and surface water, biodiversity, the landscape, architectural heritage & archaeology and the climate.
For more information, email mobility@tractebel.engie.com.
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