The Beilerstraat in Assen will be redesigned into a bicycle street between Europaweg-Zuid and Sparrenlaan. The municipality is thus giving ample space to cyclists, the maximum speed is returning to 30 kilometers per hour. Everything will be overhauled next year for around 1.2 million euros.
Over a stretch of 600 meters, the road surface will have two wide red bicycle lanes, with a narrow lane for cars in the middle. In this way, Assen wants to discourage car traffic from using Beilerstraat any longer as a fast, through route to the city center.
The municipality even goes so far as to impose a kind of blockade halfway along Beilerstraat, near Port Natalweg. This should make driving to the center via Beilerstraat impossible. “There will soon be a kind of cut in the road, so that cars and trucks on this main route can no longer go directly to the center,” says municipal spokesperson Laurent Dwarshuis.
From the south, drive down the Beilerstraat to the Zuidersingel or to the Dr. Going to Nassaulaan is then no longer possible. “In this way we want to force car traffic to take larger main routes such as Overcingellaan or Hoofdlaan if they want to go to the center.”
According to Dwarshuis, with the construction of the bicycle street, the municipality of Assen is anticipating provincial plans for a cycle route from Assen to Central Drenthe. “Many cyclists from the south enter the city here or leave Assen in the direction of Beilen. This must be possible safely, but there is still so much car traffic here, that must be different.”
Right next to Beilerstraat, there is another parallel road between Europaweg-Zuid and Sparrenlaan, with houses along it and neighborhoods behind it. This parallel road is also being tackled, but according to the municipality, the homes will remain easily accessible by car. There will be more greenery in the street. The redevelopment also involves replacing the sewerage, utility lines and street work.
The municipality is holding a walk-in meeting about the plans tonight for residents involved. After the information round and all consultation responses, a draft traffic decision for Beilerstraat will follow after the summer. The shovel can then be dug in the ground next spring without any objections.
