It is a surprise that appeared on social networks today. The bourgmestre of Charleroi and the alderman in charge of mobility, Alicia Monard, have just launched a somewhat unexpected investigation. Should we review access to the car to the lower town of Charleroi?
In 2017, the inauguration of the Rive Gauche shopping center practically put an end point to the renovation of the lower city. This inauguration included a significant change in traffic. After the sambre quays in 2014, it was Boulevard Tirou which became prohibited for traffic. Then comes the exclusion of the car on the station esplanade. The three axes that made it possible to cross the lower town had become exclusively pedestrians. The desire was then to impose on motorists with the use of the small ring, the R9, to go from east to west of the city, without crossing the center.
“In Charleroi, we have the immense chance of having this little ring which allows us to pass very quickly from one side to the other”explains Alicia Monard, the alderman of mobility. “But very concretely, people have not adopted this reflex and prefer to do tricks in the city center rather than going up in the ring and coming out further”. The investigation launched today also corresponds to repeated requests for residents and traders in the center of the lower city. “Yes, it must be admitted that this investigation responds to a request. In the triangle district, for example, there is no more activity. No more insecurity that has since grown since cars no longer circulate. Is that due to this? The investigation should allow us to see more clearly. And in contrast, we can also hear those who are attached to the pedestrian spaces which appeared on the occasion of the renovation of the lower city. And to take them into account.
The axes and district targeted by this survey are boulevard Tirou, the sambre quays and the triangle district. This investigation is open until May 30. “Then we will proceed to the counting and analysis”, explains Alicia Monard. A counting which could lead to new adaptations of mobility to the lower city this summer and a test phase lasting one year before making the necessary and durable adjustments.
