By keeping through traffic away from the center of Brussels, the aim is to create more space for Brussels residents.
Despite criticism, Brussels continues with a new mobility plan. Through traffic is banned in the city center of Brussels. The aim is to improve the quality of life within the so-called Pentagon, the old city center of Brussels within the inner ring road. A new circulation schedule will be introduced from August 16, 2022. That new circulation scheme is the local implementation of GoodMove, the mobility plan of the Brussels-Capital Region.
With its project, which is part of the regional mobility plan Good Move, the City of Brussels wants to redistribute public space and give it back to the many Brussels residents, visitors, tourists and more space for meeting. Brussels wants to make the neighborhoods more accessible, more pleasant and safer for all modes of transport (on foot, by bicycle, by public transport or by car).
Through a number of specific interventions, the City of Brussels ensures that your car, van or public transport arrives at its destination more smoothly. Thanks to this new circulation schedule and the new parking regulations visitors to the Pentagon are guided to the nearest car park using destination loops. Extensive analyzes have shown that a third of the traffic in the Pentagon is transit traffic that is not destined for the Pentagon. This leads to air pollution, noise pollution, traffic unsafety and traffic jams that also slow down public transport.
"So we're not going to fine immediately, we're going to give people a little time to adapt to the new circulation schedule."
By limiting transit traffic, for example through restricted access zones and adjustments to driving directions or one-way traffic, the City makes the streets more pleasant and safer for visitors, students, residents and users of public transport. The division is done with one-way streets and flower boxes and leads the cars through loops and past parking garages. Cities such as Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen have already implemented such plans in recent years. By 2030, a quarter of all parking spaces will disappear, especially on the street. And there are plans for a smart kilometer charge.
