1/4 Residents of Budel-Dorplein force a truck to stop (Photo: Alice van der Plas)
The house of Celina Pustjens from Budel-Dorplein is located in an officially protected village view with all monumental buildings from the nineteenth century. Only 500 heavy vehicles drive through her street every day, from trucks to regular buses. She fears, just like her fellow villagers, that there will only be more. On Wednesday afternoon, residents angrily took to the streets to address drivers and the municipality.
Recently, Celina sat by the window for an hour to count trucks. There were 34. You are actually only allowed to drive 50 kilometers per hour in the main street of Budel-Dorplein, but many trucks drive a lot faster. The highest speed measured: 94 kilometers per hour. If there is a group of local residents outside, the speed is suddenly over. “Then you see them slow down to pass very neatly,” says neighbor Lou Wouters.
Lou has moved to the back of the house with his sitting room. “Because it is unbearable at the front.” The trucks come from Belgium, from the transshipment port in Budel-Dorplein and from the Nyrstar zinc factory.
The villagers fear that the municipality of Cranendonck will close the southern perimeter road in Budel to freight traffic. Because people there also suffer from a lot of heavy traffic. “Then they will all come here”, Celina is afraid. “There are far fewer houses here.” According to the municipality of Cranendonck, no decision has yet been made about the closure and the consequences for traffic in other places are being looked at.
“It starts at 5 a.m. and goes on until 1 a.m..”
The houses along the main street are protected. And Lou gets cracks in his house. He points to a crack in the bedroom and one in the corner of the facade. “I have to repair them every two years.” Meanwhile, in her office, Celina feels her desk shaking. And all the porcelain figurines in the display case of a fellow streeter vibrate when a truck drives by.
“I sleep with earplugs on,” says Celina. “It starts at 5 in the morning and it goes on until 1 am.” Neighbor Ronald Steer, who lives in a side street, also wakes up. “We have been sitting at the table with the municipality for years to solve this problem. But nothing happens. I have the impression that we are the drain of the municipality of Cranendonck.” According to the municipality, people have indeed been talking to the residents for a long time and it is certainly considered important to protect the village view.
“Now ten-tonners rumble past, these houses can’t stand that.”
Wim Cremers has lived in Budel-Dorplein for seventy years. He gives tours to tourists. “We are a special factory village. These houses were built for the employees of the zinc factory. They were built in a time when you only saw horse and carriage here. Now ten-tonners rumble by. These houses can’t stand that at all.”
There are now plans to discourage heavy traffic from driving along the main street. For example, the municipality wants to see whether freight traffic from the port can be routed to the highway in a different way. And flower boxes and bus thresholds will be placed on the Hoofdstraat. The residents of the street have yet to see it. Celina: “I would prefer that the street is simply closed to freight traffic.”