635,000 euros for 15 new cycle projects in Brussels

The Bikes in Brussels Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, is supporting fifteen new cycling development and parking projects in 19 Brussels communes. The projects are led by schools, local authorities, sports clubs and associations. The Bikes in Brussels Fund, which supports initiatives to improve the infrastructure for cycling in the Brussels-Capital Region, remains open, so applications for support for new initiatives can be made at any time.

Whilst cycling in Brussels has increased tremendously over the last few years, further efforts can still be made to improve cycling infrastructures and persuade more people to choose cycling as the preferred, safe and efficient means of transport to and within the Brussels-Capital Region. It is with this in mind that the Bikes in Brussels Fund provides ongoing support for projects of all sizes – small, medium and large – led by associations, public bodies, or public-private partnerships that wish to improve cycling infrastructure or equipment in the capital. Since the Fund’s creation in 2018, within the King Baudouin Foundation, 90 cycling infrastructure initiatives have been supported, accounting for almost 6 million euros.

Fifteen new projects

Encouraging soft mobility involves, among other things, the provision of secure cycle parking solutions. Initiatives along these lines can count on the support of the Bikes in Brussels Fund, which has recently selected fifteen new parking projects that, in total, will receive 635,000 euros in support. Among the projects, twelve seek to provide cycle parking and shelters, not revolutionary but essential nevertheless to facilitate use of cycles in the city. These projects are led by the Collectif d'Alphabétisation (Molenbeek), the Maison de Santé Rive (Evere), the Clinique Saint-Jean (Brussels), the Scherdemael local authority schools (Anderlecht), the Autre Ecole (Auderghem), the Centre Scolaire du Blankedelle (Auderghem), the Collège la Fraternité - Site Sainte Ursule (Laeken), the Athénée Royal Rive Gauche (Laeken), the Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles (Uccle) and the Royal Léopold Club (Uccle), as well as by the local authorities of Berchem Saint Agathe and Etterbeek.

The other three projects have as objectives to install a cycle ramp on the seven flights of eleven steps of the Mont du Cinquantenaire in Etterbeek, a cycle path on the Avenue de Mai in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and a cycle path on Avenue Commandant Lothaire in Etterbeek.

Below is a short description of the 15 new projects awarded grants by the Bikes in Brussels Fund:

· In order to encourage as many pupils as possible to come to school by bike, the Scherdemael nursery and primary schools in Anderlecht will install a shelter for a total of 60 cycles.

· As part of its school travel plan, the Blankedelle school centre in Auderghem will build a shelter for the pupils’ cycle fleet.

· The Autre Ecole (asbl Animation-Education) in Auderghem will construct cycle parking with 25 places (10 cycle hoops and 1 box) to enable the teaching staff and the children’s families to have secure parking for their cycles for the entire day.

· In Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, the local authority will install three covered cycle parking spaces providing 36 places. These will enable pupils from the local schools and visitors to the sports centres to get around more regularly by bike.

· The Clinique Saint-Jean in Bruxelles will renovate its underground parking for cycles to provide a capacity of 126 places, so as to accommodate the increasing number of staff members who come to work by cycle.

· The Commune of Etterbeek will increase the number of secure parking places for cycles by installing 5 boxes to provide an additional 25 places.

· The Commune of Etterbeek will also benefit from support by the Bikes in Brussels Fund to provide a 300-metre cycle path along the Avenue Commandant Lothaire.

· And still in Etterbeek and thanks to the Fund, the commune will be able to install a cycle ramp up on the steps of the Mont du Cinquantenaire.

· The Maison de Santé Rive in Evere will install 12 cycle parking places (6 hoops) to enable patients, members of staff and neighbours to securely place their cycles close to the Maison de Santé.

· The Collège la Fraternité Site Sainte Ursule de Laeken (Brussels) will install a cycle shelter providing 60 places for the recently-acquired fleet of cycles as part of the college’s soft mobility strategy.

· In Laeken (Brussels), the Athénée Royal Rive Gauche will provide 10 cycle parking places, so as to offer the possibility to all its pupils, teachers and others to come to school by bike, worry-free.

· In Molenbeek, the Collectif d’Alphabétisation association, which organises cycling lessons, will create 24 parking places (hoops and racks) for daily use by workers and students who do not have the space to keep their cycle at home.

· The Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles, in Uccle, will install 54 cycle parking places in an effort to encourage soft mobility for those attending the club for hockey, tennis or padel.

· In Uccle, the Royal Léopold Club will create a cycle shelter of 120 places in order to reduce CO2 emissions of those attending the club for tennis, hockey, padel or fitness.

· And finally, as part of its policy to make cycling more attractive in the city, the Commune of Woluwe Saint Lambert will install a cycle path of over 1km on the Avenue de Mai.

For further information on any of these projects, please do not hesitate to contact Thierry Van Noppen (vannoppen.t@kbs-frb.be – +32 479 31 85 56). We will put you in contact with the organisation(s) concerned.

If you would like to know more about the Bikes in Brussels Fund call for projects and make an application to receive support, please check out our website.

The Bikes in Brussels Fund would of course also be delighted to receive donations from private individuals, businesses or other organisations wishing to contribute to its mission of supporting efforts to develop and equip cycling infrastructure in the Brussels-Capital Region.