Downtown Sneek: less through traffic, more space for greenery, shops and cyclists

Residents and entrepreneurs of Sneek would like a green town center with more shops and space for cyclists. This is evident from the results of the survey of municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân about the low traffic city center trial. Most people enjoy coming downtown, but not everyone feels safe in traffic.

The college has given the green light for the development of the lawsuit. Road safety is on the city’s agenda. Sneek now has a city center with a lot of through traffic where 30% of people feel unsafe. “This needs to change,” says Alderman Michel Rietman, “because the city center should be a pleasant and safe place for everyone.

The December survey was completed 2,200 times. Rietman is satisfied with this result. “People are very involved in the development of the city center. The results give us a good picture of what is happening and how people experience the city center. And how they would like to see it in the future.

The city center as a thoroughfare

One of the three most cited reasons why people come to the city center is that people use it as a transit route. It is precisely this traffic that the municipality wants to remove from the city centre. The vast majority (37%) come here to do their shopping. By making the city center car-free, 26% expect to leave the car at home more often. More than half expect the trial to improve the traffic situation for cyclists and pedestrians.

Everything always available

Rietman points out that everything will remain accessible during the test: “Some residents and entrepreneurs wonder if their home or business is still accessible, but this worry can already be taken away, because you can still go everywhere by car. Entire streets will not be closed and parking spaces will remain accessible. There will be four points in the city center where you are not allowed to cross, but you can still go there from two sides. We want to keep the city center accessible to everyone , but we no longer encourage it as a transit route.

Points of Interest in Sneek

The survey also mentions points of attention on which the municipality is working. For example, we are concerned about shortcuts in the surrounding neighborhoods, we ask for clear signage and we wonder about the route of agricultural traffic. On the website swf.frl/autoluwebinnenstadsneek contains all survey results. The municipality will use the results of the meetings and the survey to further prepare the trial. Talks will follow shortly with the stakeholders and the municipality will measure the traffic and possibly buy speeds at various locations.

Rietman is positive about the further preparations: “By including everyone in the plans, by offering clear conditions and also by continuing to talk, we can prepare well for the trial. It also increases the chances of passing the test. And with that, we can pursue our ambition to make downtown Sneek more beautiful and traffic safer. »