Menen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Menen invested €550,000 in slow roads and €100,000 in seniors’ benches. Alderman Patrick Roose highlighted accessibility, sustainability, and social employment. The city highlights these investments during Slow Road Day on October 18–19, 2025.
As VRT News reported, the city of Menen, in the province of West Flanders, Belgium, has invested heavily in improving its slow-moving road network in recent years. One of the latest projects is the complete renovation of the footpath along the green axis of Oude Leielaan.
Workers from Veerkracht 4 removed the old raised paving stones and replaced them with permeable concrete pavers. Excess paving was also removed to make more greenery. The work has opened space for plants and trees.
What has Menen done to upgrade slow roads and seniors’ benches?
New benches have also been added along the renovated footpath. The benches were purchased through the Westtoer framework contract and were selected by the city’s seniors’ council. They mentioned that they feature ergonomic designs with armrests, making them particularly suitable for older residents. Oude Leielaan now forms the final section of the city centre’s seniors’ path. Similar benches have already been installed on Rijselstraat and Bruggestraat.
During the past legislative term, the city of Menen invested approximately €550,000 in improving its network of slow-moving roads. In addition, around €100,000 was allocated specifically for the installation of new benches along these paths.
The grounds of the initiatives are sustainability-based, which entails the use of designs and materials that provide drainage and more verdant public areas. The municipality speaks of this as under the widest scope of development for walking infrastructure and encouraging walking throughout Menen.
“With these interventions, we’re not only investing in the comfort of the walkers who use our slow paths daily, but also in sustainability and accessibility,”
says Alderman for Infrastructure Patrick Roose (VOOR 8930).
“By collaborating with a local custom-built company, we’re also strengthening social employment in our city. That makes this project even more valuable.”
In 2022, the city of Menen undertook a big project to enhance its slow-moving road network. Construction on the footpath on the green axis of Oude Leielaan commenced in January 2022 and was completed in July 2022.
The City of Menen has previously executed similar initiatives aimed at enhancing its slow-moving roads. In 2017, together with the Flemish association Trage Wegen and Hasselt University was involved with the ‘WegenWerken’ project, which aimed to renew the revitalisation of neglected slow roads with the active participation of the community, designers, and local policymakers.
