“A laugh,” Mechtild Huisg from Dorst calls it. To construct a fast bike route from Breda to Tilburg, she and twelve of her neighbors must give up a piece of their front garden. Ninety trees are also cut down and two thousand square meters of forest disappear. The Dorstenaren certainly disagree and a petition started.
While a cyclist drives on the Rijksweg, Mechtild proudly shows her apricot and apple trees. A rose bush is just starting to get to the button. She has been enjoying the strip of green for her house for more than 25 years, but may have to sacrifice three meters for F58 fast cycle route. It runs from the center of Breda via Dorst and the center of Rijen to the center of Tilburg.
The province owns the land. But that is time -barred, claim Mechtild and her neighbors who have been using it as a front garden for more than ten years. A defeat lawyer supports them in this.
“Residents have appropriated a piece of land, but that does not change the fact that the province owns.”
The province thinks differently. “It is true that a number of residents have appropriated a piece of provincial land and pulled them at their front garden,” a spokesperson responds. “That does not change the fact that the province owns.”
The plan for the fast bike path has been on the table since 2017. According to the province, it must yield twenty percent more cyclists. The part by Dorst must be ready in 2027. The costs are estimated at 4.7 million euros.
“There is a nicer route through the forest.”
“A nonsensical plan,” says Mechtild. Neighbor Frank van Gool assists her. “There is a nicer route through the forest, via the clay wells near Surae, and along the track.” This is also used one and a half times more than the route through their street, parallel to the N282. In the morning rush hour, 130 cyclists drive through it, according to a sample that the residents themselves performed.
The province ignores those results. The route through the forest continues to exist, but is experienced as socially less safe, according to a spokesperson.
Furthermore, the Dorstenaren fear that the fast bike path becomes too narrow in some places. Especially if the new -build homes are realized along the Rijksweg. “Dangerous,” says Frank, who has been living there for 64 years. “Then you get on the cycle path from your front door.”
A petition for an alternative route has been signed 135 times. “That is quite a lot for a village like Dorst,” says Mechtild. The signatures are offered on 22 May to the deputy of the province.
