Speed cameras have still not been installed in the Annie Cordy tunnel – Belgium's longest tunnel – due to opposition from municipal mayors, De Standaard reports.
Pieterjan Desmet, a spokesperson for Brussels’ Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt, has stated that “everything is ready to be used” but the speed control systems – which have been promised since 2015 – are currently held up by multiple local mayors who have yet to give their approval, aguing that there are more pressing road safety issues “above ground” which should be dealt with first.
Ahmed Laaouej, the mayor of Koekelberg, is said to be fronting the opposition and has support from mayor of Ganshoren Jean-Paul Van Laethem. Both officials complained to De Standaard about various traffic incidents in their municipalities, such as a STIB bus crashing into three pedestrians.
“We want a coherent policy around road safety,” Laaouej demanded, with Laethem calling for a speed limit of 30 kph to be enforced in their municipalities. Laethem explained that “we are not opposed to the route control itself but only when there are accompanying measures” to ensure road safety in their municipalities.
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However, their unwillingness to budge on the issue has drawn the ire of many, even the road safety group Heroes for Zero. The collective’s spokesperson Pieter Fannes told De Standaard that the position taken by the mayors “is downright sad." He explained that “there is indeed much to improve above ground” but having the tunnel’s speed enforcement depend on it “makes little sense”, before concluding that “if we followed the same reasoning, nothing would ever change.”
