“We wash cars here… but how will they come? Eight months is a long time! We have 1,500 euros of rent, and we will have to continue to pay“, worries the merchant. In her Romanian products store, Roxana is also in low spirits after the announcement of this long work: “We have no choice. We hope it will be positive… but we have to survive until then.”
The seller, like other traders on the avenue, still has in mind the painful memory of the work of 2020. The “de Trooz” tram stop had then been moved. “It was a disaster for us. It was long and everything was very dirty.”
Big change in Schaerbeek: Place de la Reine will be redeveloped
Dysfunctional shutdown
Only four years after the project, new work? The story is disconcerting. The “de Trooz” stop is now of the “podium” type: the trams pass in the center, and the cars on raised strips also serving as platforms.
But as soon as the new stop was inaugurated, serious malfunctions were spotted. “There are cars falling on the rails, the curb is too high“, noted Roxana.
What’s more, the infrastructure posed problems for traders, including the garage located nearby. “It’s a shame, a disaster. We should be able to accommodate cars, but access has become very complicated. We lost a lot of customers.”sighs Adnan, who mentions the nuisances linked to the shutdown. “There is no shelter for people. When it rains, everyone comes into the garage. In itself, there is no problem in helping people. But there are people here who urinate on the walls, who throw things…”
Legal action was taken and the Stib finally decided to review, after a short time, the layout of the stop, which will once again be moved. “Between March 2021 and May 2021, a few accidents were recorded within this stop, and, in addition, problems with the operation of certain businesses located there generated conflicts between users, vehicles, public transport“, justified the company at the beginning of 2022 in the planning permit application.
“Before the 2020 work, it was better”
But who says change of stop says new site. In the garage too, there is concern about the accessibility of commerce over the next eight months. “Just talking about it gives me goosebumps.” “I don’t think about it, otherwise it’s stress”, slips Rachid, from a general store. “For the future of the street, it will surely be positive. But for eight months, revenues will decline…” In a bar on the avenue, we are amazed. “What, a construction site? But we weren’t common!”
A few days before the new jackhammer blows, many miss Avenue de la Reine in its former configuration. “Before the 2020 work, it was better. The situation with the stop on the square didn’t bother anyone”points out Nassib, who deplores the elimination of parking spaces. “It was practical. Now people have to go far to park and that has an impact“, adds the locksmith Hamza. “In any case, we hope that this will be the end of all the problems we have experienced in recent years.”sighs Adnan in his garage.
Remember that tram lines 10, 62 and 93 will be significantly disrupted during this work. During the work on Avenue de la Reine, tram 10 will not serve the section between Docks Bruxsel and Thomas and will be diverted via the Liedts and Verboekhoven stops. Line 62 will have its terminus in Liedts and will not serve the Heysel -Liedts section. The 93 will be limited to the Stade-Jules de Trooz section. The part between Jules de Trooz and Louise will not be assured, in particular because of the other works on rue Royale.
