The first step towards a referendum on the narrowing of the Ringbaan West in Tilburg has been taken. In December, the municipal council approved plans to reduce the road to one lane per direction, but Hans Smolders of LST does not want to hear about that. That is why he is collecting signatures for a referendum. “If these plans go ahead, you will experience traffic jams there every day.”
The group leader says he hears signals from all sides that people do not agree with the city council’s decision. “People don’t understand why this has to happen. Citizens are very concerned about it.”
This also applies to Anne-Roos’ father, who was killed in one of the side streets of the Ringbaan West during the autumn holidays. With her broken bicycle under his arm, he spoke at a council meeting in December. “This is what a child’s bicycle looks like when a car has hit it at 50 kilometers per hour,” he began. “My daughter Anne-roos had an accident on this bicycle 6 weeks ago.”
The father fears that narrowing the Ringbaan West will cause extra traffic, especially in the side streets.
Referendum
In this first step towards a referendum, Hans Smolders needed 1,300 signatures to submit the request to the council. He raised more than twice as much. “There are now almost 3,000 people who have signed,” he says. “But we still need a lot.” At 8,000 signatures, the request for a referendum is official, but then it is still up to the council whether it will go ahead.
If it all ends up going ahead, the Tilburg politician immediately makes a comment. “The result of the referendum is not binding and that is why the municipal council can ignore the result. If I notice that politicians are going to play that game, I still have a stick behind the door,” the LST faction leader refers to the municipal elections of March 18.
Accessible city
Tilburg will gain 30,000 more houses in the coming years. That also means tens of thousands of extra people in the city. To ensure that the city center remains accessible, the West Ring Road must be reduced to one lane. Councilor Rik Grashoff explains why: “We want to direct cars that don’t need to be in the city to other roads.”
“This way, the cars that need to be there can continue to drive on the West Ring Road and fast buses can continue to drive. This way, the city remains easily accessible for everyone who really needs to be there.”
Smolders agrees with Alderman Grashoff here. “There should indeed be no cars driving on the West Ring Road that shouldn’t be there. But as far as I’m concerned, you do that in other ways. We have been advocating for a good transferium outside the city and a weed drive outside the ring roads for ten years. But that has never happened.”
Asking for trouble
Smolders does not understand the measures that are now being taken at all. “It’s already busy there and then you’re going to reduce it to one lane. It’s just going to be chaos. If these plans go ahead, you’re going to have traffic jams there every day.” According to the group leader, this is asking for trouble. “There will soon be at least 30,000 more cars. Then you wouldn’t even consider taking away a job. It’s one of the stupidest plans ever if you look at it from the driver’s perspective.”
According to the group leader, the fact that it is becoming busier on the Ringbaan West is only part of the problem. “You get cut-through traffic and that puts a heavy burden on the neighborhoods. The people who know the city will do everything they can to take the shortest route.”
It will become clear in the coming months whether there will be a referendum and whether it will influence the decision on the narrowing of the Ringbaan West.
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These are the plans for the Ringbaan West
The Ringbaan West will become completely single-lane, from the Hasseltrotonde in North to the Baroniebaan in South. In this way, cars that do not need to be in the city are directed to other roads. According to the municipality, measures are being taken to prevent cut-through traffic. The bus will have more space at the location of the second lane. The fast bus lanes should ensure that the city center is easily accessible by public transport.
During the work, the viaduct at the intersection with Hart van Brabantlaan will also be tackled. This will be completely replaced and the road will therefore be closed for a year and a half. Traffic must always use other roads during that period.
The Tilburg department of the CDA only agreed to the plans if they can be reversed if it turns out not to work. This would mean that the road narrowing would be undone.