The municipality of Helmond will receive significant financial support to remain easily accessible in the future. The province is making more than 17 million euros available for adjustments to the Eastern Ring Road. “This feels like enormous support,” says Martijn de Kort, Mobility Councilor.
The municipality of Helmond has been designated by the government as a large-scale housing construction location and, with government support, can build 3,500 houses in the coming years. An important condition is that the city remains easily accessible. This will not be possible without measures.
To improve accessibility, adjustments are needed to direct traffic around the city as much as possible. This concerns adjustments to the intersections of the N279, Rochadeweg and N612, the so-called Oostelijke Randweg.
This makes it possible to gradually allow fewer cars on the Kasteel-Traverse, a busy, main road straight through the center of Helmond. Traffic that does not need to be in the center is diverted via other roads. The center therefore remains easily accessible for visitors and residents. The Eastern Randweg also plays an important role in better traffic flow throughout the region.
Martijn de Kort, Mobility Councilor, is happy with the support from the province. “The letter we received from the province of North Brabant feels like enormous support. This improvement in the flow of car traffic in the region is crucial for the accessibility of Helmond. As Helmond, we can take a lot of measures, but if this does not coincide with measures in the region, everything will still come to a standstill.”
Need even more money
Helmond will still have to be patient, because although the government supports Helmond’s housing construction ambitions, the outgoing cabinet has not yet agreed to the money needed. Helmond has already received 33 million euros for area development, but to ensure that all the extra traffic flows properly, even more money is needed.
The province has announced that the new cabinet must make the missing money available to realize everything. The municipality of Helmond has confidence in this, because the House of Representatives adopted a motion by CDA MP Boelsma-Hoekstra at the beginning of this month. In that motion, she requests the government to first allocate money that becomes available to Alkmaar, Apeldoorn, Hengelo-Enschede and Helmond. These four cities have been designated as large-scale housing construction locations.
Other investments
In addition to measures for car traffic, Helmond and the province also invest in public transport and cyclists and in better facilities for walking and traveling together. A major traffic study that is currently underway brings all plans together so that they are properly coordinated with each other and with the region.
