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The city of Antwerp and De Vlaamse Waterweg want to have the specifications for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge across the Scheldt ready this fall, and to put the project out to tender in the first half of 2024. Concerns of, among others, cyclists’ organizations, nautical users and water-related businesses in the area were investigated, it sounds, but do not stand in the way of the bridge.
jvhSource: BELGA
The idea of realizing a Scheldt bridge, mainly to strengthen the bicycle network around Antwerp and to make it less dependent on the Kennedy bicycle tunnel and the Sint-Anna tunnel, has been around for years. However, various parties involved had (and still have) doubts about the feasibility of the project, and whether the resources could not be better spent. The city investigated a number of concerns together with De Vlaamse Waterweg and the team of covering intendant Alexander D’Hooghe.
A mobility study showed that a Scheldt bridge in Antwerp can make a major contribution to the modal shift to less use of cars, while a collision risk analysis confirmed the proposed bridge concept and the mitigating measures proposed by the pilotage service. The bridge would pose an operational and economic problem for the upstream companies, but the city wants to remedy this by providing a removable bridge section so that ships can still pass it.
“The Scheldt Bridge will connect to a series of new bicycle connections in all directions, and at the same time be the final piece of a real bicycle ring around Antwerp,” says Alderman of Mobility Koen Kennis (N-VA).
A budget of 254 million euros has already been provided for the Scheldt bridge. The city and De Vlaamse Waterweg will be working on the specifications for this in the coming months, within the workbench with other stakeholders. If everything goes according to plan, the tender can start in the first half of 2024.