Council member Bastiaan Meerburg says there are currently too many traffic jams and the Bornsesteeg route may need to be reopened to cars.
Meerburg, who is a researcher in the Animal Sciences Group as well as being a VVD Council member, says the increasing traffic chaos at the campus is not a good advertisement for knowledge-intensive companies thinking about setting up office on the campus. ‘Last week, when the back exit through Kierkampersteeg was closed, the queues were so bad it took half an hour to get off the campus. At the moment we can only enter and leave the campus on the east side. If Food Valley continues to grow, we’ll need a comprehensive solution to this problem.’
Meerburg thinks the expansion of the Mansholtlaan roundabout, for which the province is contributing 6.2 million euros, will not be enough to solve the access problems. He feels something should also be done about the Bornsesteeg, which is currently closed to cars. ‘Wageningen municipality is giving a lot of attention to cyclists at the Nijenoord Allee/Churchillweg crossing but I reckon it would be better to come up with a solution for cars and public transport at the same time.’ Perhaps there should be one-way traffic for cars on the Bornsesteeg, or you could keep the cars and cyclists on this access route separate by using a tunnel, suggests Meerburg.