The bullet is in the church. The Beilerstraat in Assen is being made safer for cyclists. Not by closing the road. But by redesigning the street and lowering the speed to 30 kilometers per hour.
There has been a lot of buzz about Beilerstraat in the past year. When it turned out that the municipality of Assen wanted to turn it into a bicycle street, with a closure for through car traffic halfway, there was a commotion everywhere. Many residents of surrounding streets were strongly against this.
That is why a trial was first carried out with a bicycle post, to test how the closure would work. But that pole caused so much extra traffic in surrounding streets and neighborhoods, traffic research showed, that the municipality still canceled the closure.
A new redesign plan should make it safer for cyclists and slow down through car traffic. A speed limit of 30 kilometers will soon apply to the entire Beilerstraat. The roadway will become narrower, and bicycle lanes will be added to the streets. The municipality is also taking additional traffic calming measures, such as plateaus at intersections.
And where there is currently asphalt in the southern part of Beilerstraat, clinkers will soon return, just like in previous years. According to the municipality, this also fits better with the cultural-historical character of the old Beilerstraat, and with a speed of 30 kilometers.
The parallel road in the southern part will disappear, and entrances to homes will then connect to the roadway as much as possible. Public greenery will be created on the other parts of the parallel road. And bad trees that are now there are being replaced by new ones. The separate cycle path in the forest will become a footpath in the new plan.
Next year the municipality will work out the design, and they will have to arrange all permits and the tender. The sewer also needs to be replaced. Implementation will follow in 2027.