Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Work has started on the Heysel tunnel linking Brussels Expo to Parking C. Approved in 2023, it serves fairs now, but future permits may open it as a public road.
As VRT Newa reported, in Brussels, work has started on a tunnel under the Romanesque Road at the Heysel plateau. The tunnel will link the Heysel Palaces with Parking C and the Ring Road. The plan has been discussed for more than 10 years.
Brussels Expo, which manages the Palaces, first called for the project. The goal was to give trucks a direct road for loading and unloading during fairs and events. Shuttle buses could also move visitors between the Palaces and Parking C.
Will the Heysel tunnel linking Brussels Expo and Parking C become a public road?
The project later became part of the Neo redevelopment at the Heysel site. Neo is a large plan by the City of Brussels and the Brussels Region. It includes a shopping centre, leisure facilities, housing, childcare services and a retirement home.
Authorities say the tunnel is needed to make Neo accessible without adding traffic to local streets. They mentioned that planning approval for Neo depends on this road connection. The project faced many delays due to politics, legal issues and funding.
In the Flemish GRUP, the regional spatial plan for the redevelopment of the Ring Road, the connecting road is now listed as a public road. The plan was fully approved last year. According to Marin Struyf, spokesperson for De Werkvennootschap, the agency in charge of major works on the Ring, the situation is not that simple. The permit currently in place only allows the road to be used for logistics and shuttle buses during fairs and events at Brussels Expo.
Struyf explained that the GRUP only provides a framework, and every part of the redevelopment still requires its process. The area at Parking C and Wemmel has not yet been handled, which means the plan makes wider use possible but does not guarantee it.
“Flanders also wants to make it a public road,
Says Kestemont.
All Flemish and Brussels stakeholders now agree on the principle of openness.”
According to officials, if the road is to become a public route, a new permit will be required in any case. The change from an event road to a public road would need fresh legal and environmental checks.
They mentioned that another factor is that Flanders wants to reshape the road system around Parking C as part of its Ring Road project. This includes moving the existing on- and off-ramp 7A to another location. Such a change will involve detailed planning, consultation and new approvals.
For now, the works on the connecting road continue under the current permit that limits its use to events at Brussels Expo. Whether the link will later serve as a permanent public road depends on new political choices and the outcome of the wider reorganisation of the Ring Road.
In 2015, Brussels Expo applied for a permit to build a connecting road between the Heysel Palaces and Parking C with access to the Ring Road. Because the project crosses 2 regions, approval was required in both Brussels and Flanders.
The Brussels Region granted its permit in 2016, but the Flemish part of the plan faced years of delay. The outer half of the Romeinensteenweg and Parking C are located on Flemish territory, and objections there led to a long legal battle.
The Flemish government approved on 26 June 2023, but with restrictions: the new road can only be used during fairs and events at Brussels Expo. That condition was added to avoid extra traffic pressure in nearby Flemish municipalities if the road were opened every day.
The works are now being carried out by Neo, the consortium behind the redevelopment of the Heysel site. A tunnel is being dug under the Romanesque Road, and the Flemish section toward Parking C is under development.
According to Neo lawyer Bernice Kestemont, the construction will continue until August 2026. When finished, the connecting road will serve visitors and trucks during fairs and events at Brussels Expo. Whether the link will later be opened for wider use is a decision that will depend on future political talks.
“Brussels Expo is currently practically the only user of the Heysel Plateau,”
Says Kestemont.
