Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- A number of traders from the city centre and the Marolles went for coffee on Tuesday with Brussels alderman of Mobility Bart Dhondt (Green) to discuss the consequences of the circulation plan on their business. “We are left to our own devices.”
Dhondt was visited by seven merchants from the Zuidstraat and the Hoogstraat, including Hassan Kessas, manager of Utopia Comics and chairman of the Association de Commerçants Centre-Bourse. Since the circulation plan was launched about two months ago, Kessas has had about thirty percent fewer customers.
“We especially wanted to understand why Good Move was introduced after a participation process in which, proportionally, too few people participated, and which also took place in times of corona. Now we see that traders and residents are faced with a fait accompli.”
Consultation
During the meeting, the traders were able to express their experiences and concerns and also pointed out some problematic points and traffic situations for them.
“I am thinking, for example, of the strip of Wetstraat and Koloniënstraat, where people stand still for too long, which leads to congestion. But the traffic situation has also deteriorated in Dansaertstraat,” says Kessas.
Kessas also believes that more consultation is needed with the inhabitants of Brussels. “We need to take into account the needs of the population. I don’t understand how politicians with a few thousand votes can implement such an anti-car policy in a city like Brussels,” he said sharply.
context
Bandagist Walter Meers was also present. He is at the helm of Brasseur in the Zuidstraat, a shop that has been selling orthopaedic products for more than a hundred years.
“We naturally have a returning, trusted audience,” he says. “I don’t run a fashion store, people come to us with a medical prescription because they need an arch support or bandage, something that is necessary for them.”
In the past month Meert saw his customer number plummet by about twenty percent.
“That may also have to do with the energy crisis, but that is precisely our point: the timing of this circulation plan is anything but good. We come out of the corona period, end up in the energy crisis, and then this on top. Given the context, the transition to the circulation plan has been too brutal. We are left to our own devices.”
Transit traffic
Traders have not yet come up with concrete adjustments. They should be there in a month, because the intention is then to sit around the table again with Dhondt and possibly also Mayor Close.
“I understand that traders are concerned. This is a big change”, responds Dhondt. “With Good Move, we want to make the city more attractive, more accessible and more pleasant, but sometimes people see other things happening.”
Dhondt indicates that he is in contact with residents and traders who have questions. “And we say clearly: it is possible that we make concrete adjustments such as streets change direction, but the core remains that the transit traffic decreases with every possible adjustment.”
