Many people who live near the ovonde in the center of Klazienaveen fear additional parking problems due to new construction in that area. Luuk Dillerop, resident of the Dordsebrug flat, announced this on Monday evening during the committee meeting in the Emmer town hall.
The ovonde is the oval roundabout on the spot where the Dordse Bridge used to be. Several construction projects are in the pipeline in the immediate vicinity: a new Albert Heijn supermarket with nine apartments, a new Aldi supermarket with 23 apartments and a new Regiobank office with ten apartments. Dillerop realizes that new construction can have a positive impact on the living environment and the local economy, but he believes this should not be at the expense of the current residents in the area.
‘Crucial importance’
De Klazienavener pointed out that the parking situation is already dire and stated that the new construction plans do not take sufficient account of the parking standards that the municipality itself has established.
“With the arrival of new apartments, supermarkets and a bank, the demand for parking spaces will only increase. It is crucial that the council ensures that there is sufficient parking available for both new residents and current residents. In addition, visitors, suppliers and emergency services must be taken into account.”
Based on the parking standards, there is now a shortage of 36 parking spaces in the plans, according to Klazienavener. He pointed out that the residents of the apartments in the new complex with Albert Heijn will have to park in the immediate vicinity and that there will be ‘only’ eleven parking spaces at the new office building for Regiobank with ten apartments.
According to Dillerop, the plan for the Aldi with 23 apartments will include ‘only’ one parking space per apartment. “I call on the municipality to look seriously at this issue and take concrete measures to address the expected parking problems.”
Puzzle
Councilor René van der Weide (Wakker Emmen) said that the municipality will do its best to properly arrange parking in Klazienaveen. “We can use different instruments for this. I am not talking about introducing paid parking, but you can think of blue zones and parking permits, for example. It will get busier and it will be a puzzle.”
According to Van der Weide, there is often unused parking space under the Het Schip residential and shopping complex. “We can try to entice people to park there.”