Every day before the first lecture of the day there is a tailback of bikes at the Bornsesteeg. And it is dangerous: students block cycle paths, go through red lights and cycle on the wrong side of the road. ‘In fact people are amazed that there haven’t been worse accidents up to now,’ says Student Council member Anneriek Simons. And the tailbacks will only get longer. Orion opens in May and then there will be students coming to the campus who currently attend classes at De Dreijen. Last week, council members went flyering on the routes to the campus. They hope students will more often take other routes and not come in one great wave along the Bornsesteeg. As an alternative they mention the winding path behind the Bongerd that comes out at Orion via the Thymos path. Then there is also the less visible cobblestone path behind the Dijkgraaf, entering the campus by the Rikilt institute. Brave souls who took the latter route were rewarded by the council members with bicycles lights or a saddle cover. On the roundabout on the Rooseveltlaan, pupils from De Tarthorst primary school joined in the protest. Lined up along the road, they applauded students who went straight on instead of through the residential neighbourhood. In the Tarthorst itself, they distributed flyers and stickers. ‘We’ve involved as many children as possible,’ said school head Ben van de Berg. He hopes the neighbourhood will be safer as a result. ‘Since the campus was established, hundreds of students come through the neighbourhood. They are much bigger and our children are vulnerable.’ Parents support the campaign too. ‘The students just mow you down,’ says Willemien Pfeiffer. ‘They don’t watch out and they are not even bothered.’ Her son Jamie knows about the dangers. ‘Two year ago he was knocked down by a student,’ says Pfeiffer. ‘He had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. He suffered from concussion and had to spend a day in hospital.’ Local policeman Alex de Wit confirms that there have been a lot of complaints from the neighbourhood. He hopes the campaign will help a bit. ‘It would be very nice if even just 10 percent of the students now start bypassing the Tarthorst.’
‘Students just mow you down’
Student should be able to reach the campus by bike in safety and without queues, says the Student Council. They ran a flyer campaign last week to draw students' attention to alternative routes.
