Emmen will become a lot more bicycle-friendly with the arrival of two bicycle streets. This is apparent from a presentation to local residents of the plans for new streets around the center. It concerns a total of four streets, of which the Kerkhoflaan and the Zuiderstraat are designed as a bicycle street. The Zuiderstraat will become a one-way street. The other two streets, Julianastraat and Beatrixstraat, will also be replaced, but not transformed into bicycle streets. There will be speed bumps.
The idea is also not only to redesign the streets. “We are also going to replace the sewer,” says project manager Jorrit Visser. “The intention is to build a separate sewer system here, so that the rainwater is separated from the wastewater of a home.”
Bert Winkel, project leader at the municipality of Emmen, adds: “Where the mixed water (rainwater and waste water) used to go to water purification, it is now separated and that saves energy.” The plan to tackle the four streets is part of a larger plan within the municipality, in which the sewers around the center area will be replaced. Streets such as Emmalaan and Prinsenlaan preceded and have since been addressed.
Kerkhoflaan is a street frequently used by students of Hondsrug College and Esdal College. The street will be transformed into a bicycle street, which means that the cyclist is the main user and that the motorist is ‘guest’. Visser: “We are going to narrow the road and red asphalt will be laid in there. In the middle and on the side there will be a rebate strip, a small elevation that the cyclist can still cross.”
According to the project manager, the Kerkhoflaan will be arranged differently because that avenue is mainly used by cyclists. “We have held counts there, which show that three quarters of road users are cyclists. This makes it appropriate to realize a bicycle street.”
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