Tervuren residents are bracing for a fresh round of transport disruption as workers paint so-called bicycle “suggestion lanes” (fietssuggestiestroken) on Vossemberg and Rootstraat. Traffic will be diverted via the already congested Tervuren centre and Leuvensesteenweg.
Mayor Thomas Geyns (OpenVLD, Voor Tervuren) and his team sanctioned the two-day closure for contractors to apply the paint on a section of the F29 cycle “motorway” (fietssnelweg) that will link Leuven, Tervuren and Brussels.
Geyns has yet to announce when exactly the two-day closure will take place between 14 and 31 October 2025. Residents are kindly urged to check out the mayor’s Facebook page. That date depends on when contractors can apply the thin layer of bitumen to provide a skid-resistant surface on the painted cycle lanes. If applied below 5°C the bitumen can become too stiff or brittle leading to poor bonding, cracks, and peeling.
The works were commissioned by the Flemish road construction agency, De Werkvennootschap, also in charge of the F29’s €5.4 million Vier-Armen cycling bridge.
Construction of the F29 — financed by the EU and Flanders to the tune of €20 million — has already closed through-traffic in the Park of Tervuren. Reopening has now been mooted by authorities for the end of the year. But this new two-day closure on the Vossemberg will be accompanied by a series of modifications for several key roads, including the Rootstraat.
Motorists now face extended detours. Through-traffic between Vossem and Duisburg will be redirected via the Tervuren’s busiest roads: the N3 Leuvensesteenweg and through Tervuren centre. The temporary prohibition of heavy goods vehicles in Veeweidestraat will funnel more commercial traffic onto alternative local roads.
Mayor Geyns is expected to urge the public to use alternative routes and check for daily updates. And once completed the F29 bicycle “motorway” will link Leuven and Brussels with a fast, safe cycling route.
By Dafydd ab Iago.
