Diepenbeek (Eurotoday) – Local residents are welcoming initiatives aimed at improving safety conditions on the Diepenbeek Steenweg in the short term. The speed limit on the Steenweg has been reduced from 70 to 50 km/h, while crews have repaired street lighting and repainted road markings.
The municipality of Diepenbeek, in collaboration with the Roads and Traffic Agency and the police, has implemented short-term road safety measures for the Steenweg. The speed limit reduction—from 70 to 50 km/h—applies to the area near Diepenbeek’s center, extending towards the Hasselt border.
As a preventive measure, additional police checks will be enforced through section controls. Meanwhile, the municipality plans to modernize road markings and replace damaged streetlights. These measures follow a fatal bicycle accident in November caused by a collision with a drunk driver.
**“The residents are very relieved that there are finally measures,”**
says Froyen.
**“The temporary speed reduction is the first necessary step. We will only be completely satisfied when there is a structural solution. The Steenweg needs a wider and safer cycle path, preferably separated. We assume that this will be achieved within a reasonable period of time.”**
The municipality has assured petition initiators and other residents that they will be kept informed about future steps.
**“We will also follow it closely ourselves. If necessary, we will request further consultation. We will certainly not let it go,”**
Froyen concludes.
**“I am very happy that measures are being taken. It is extremely dangerous now,”**
says Heidi Verpoort, a regular cyclist on the Steenweg.
**“The cycle paths are much too narrow, especially if you want to pass or cross each other. The cars drive too fast and are there faster than you think.”**
Verpoort hopes the measures will provide sufficient short-term relief.
**“It is a good start because the speed reduction allows motorists to react better. I do hope that the separated cycle paths will be installed. It is safer and more comfortable to have your own separated space.”**
Currently, Verpoort finds cycling alongside the Steenweg extremely dangerous.
Further along the road, student Xander Keller, who lives in student housing along the Steenweg, shares his concerns.
**“Every day I have to go to and from campus. When trucks or tractors drive past you, it feels very unsafe. So I think these are very good measures. They will have an impact.”**
However, Keller believes that plans for a complete road reconstruction should remain reasonable.
**“The safer it becomes for cyclists, the better. It should be possible. Wider cycle paths might force you to cut down trees. That’s a downside. By the time it happens, I’ll probably have graduated long ago.”**
**“I just experienced it. When a few buses pass you, you really have to watch out or you’ll get hit,”**
adds cycling tourist Jacques Jammaers. He commutes from Sint-Lambrechts-Herk and cycles on the Steenweg four to five times a week.
**“Buses, trucks, and tractors simply don’t have much room on the road. They sometimes even drive on the white line because they have no other choice.”**
Jammaers welcomes the short-term measures but also sees the advantage of a double-cycle path on one side of the road.
**“There needs to be more space. I don’t know if that’s possible, but that’s how you keep the cars at a distance. Now you can’t rule out that there will still be accidents.”**
Truck driver Bert Machiels, who regularly drives on the Steenweg, has a different perspective.
**“It used to be 90 kilometers per hour. The accident is, of course, very regrettable, but I think it is a shame that these measures are being chosen. That accident had other causes. I think it is a bit exaggerated. We can hardly drive at those speeds everywhere.”**
According to Machiels, the speed limit is not the main issue.
**“Everyone knows what happened. If people are not drunk behind the wheel, behave sensibly, and stick to 70 kilometers per hour, then such accidents do not happen. I do recognize that the cycle path is unsafe and that something needs to be done about it. A separate cycle path should be possible.”**
Christel Hoevelinck, who lives on a side street of the Steenweg and frequently passes through by bike and car, also weighs in.
**“It used to be much safer with the passages over the railway. Something has to be done. The reduction to 50 kilometers per hour will certainly be an improvement. It is a long route
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