Zottegem (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Zottegem faces parking issues near the train station due to limited spots and high costs. Alderman Jenne De Potter proposes all-day parking on Broeder Mareslaan (40 spots) and clearer signage in Bevegem.
The town of Zottegem, East Flanders province, Belgium, has a problem with individuals who drive to the train station. There aren’t enough spaces to park their cars close to the station, and lots of individuals park in residential areas free of charge. This becomes difficult for individuals living in such places to park their cars.
The train station’s parking lot is too expensive for many people, so they try to find free parking. This is especially a problem near the OCMW campus. The city wants to figure out how to help both people who live there and people who drive to the train station. They are looking at how parking spaces are used during the day to see if they can make changes.
Will Zottegem’s parking changes solve commuter issues?
The city of Zottegem is looking at a street behind the station called Broeder Mareslaan. They mentioned that 40 parking spaces on this street are only allowed for 2 hours. People who need to park for a long time can’t use them.
The city wants to change this so people can park there all day. They think this will help commuters find parking and reduce the pressure on other areas. They hope this will make it easier for people who use the train every day.
“The parking pressure is becoming too great, especially at the OCMW campus,”
Says Alderman for Mobility Jenne De Potter (CD&).
The city of Zottegem is changing the rules for parking in the Bevegem district. They started a special parking zone called a “blue zone” a few years ago, but people didn’t like it. So, they decided to only enforce the blue zone rules on weekdays, Monday to Friday, not on weekends.
They are introducing another change to make things more clear and equitable for drivers. The city wishes to ensure that the changes do not create more parking issues in the neighbourhood. Most of the city council agrees on these changes.
The city of Zottegem is trying to make parking easier to understand in the Bevegem district. They realised that some people who don’t live in Zottegem get parking tickets because they don’t know they are in a special parking zone. So, the city wants to put up more signs to tell people about the parking rules.
They mentioned that the signs will show where people need to use a parking disc and when. The city doesn’t want to give out more tickets, they just want to make things clearer for everyone. The city council will vote on these changes on April 28th, 2025. If they agree, the new signs and rules will be put in place soon.
