Idea and goals
Since 1997 the city centre of Ghent is a pedestrian zone. But there was still a lot of motorised traffic, 40% of which did not even have a destination in the city centre. This is why the city of Ghent has agreed on a new circulation plan in 2017 to achieve two main objectives: the liveability and accessibility of the city centre. Therefore, a large part of the city centre has been converted into a pedestrian and bicycle zone, which does not allow cars without a destination in the city to cross the city. In order to ensure accessibility, public transport continues to serve these zones.
Implementation
For the introduction of a car-free city centre, five car-free zones have been introduced. This not only served the purpose of creating more space for pedestrians and cyclists, but was also a measure to prevent motorised traffic from crossing the city. Therefore, the city introduced barriers in the main streets that before were used to cross the city. If car drivers want to move between the six different sectors of the city, they now have to use the ring road. It’s no longer possible to drive directly from one sector to the other. The large number of waterways in the city of Ghent made it easy to control the flow of traffic. The cutting of the traffic in the streets is enforced by concrete blocks and signs but also by number-plate recognition cameras. Public transport, emergency services, taxis or medical professions are still allowed to pass these areas. In addition, for the busiest shopping streets, a prohibition for all vehicles has been issued.
Vision
After the implementation of the circulation plan, it became clear that modal shift showed a positive trend: 25 percent more cyclists were noted in the city centre, there was less motorised traffic to the centre and 60 percent less motorised traffic transited the city centre. This eliminated almost all congestion in this area. Apart from that, cycling without cars was now safer. The results were so good, that the City of Ghent is now introducing circulation plans in six large neighbourhoods outside the city centre, with extensive participation of the inhabitants and shopkeepers.