Business owners in the Ruiterskwartier in the heart of Leeuwarden are in talks with the municipality about banning buses from serving the area.
Translation by Traci White
Omrop Fryslân reports that the business owners in the city centre are taking advantage of the construction of a new Pathe cinema as an opportunity to start a discussion about broader changes on the street. Plans to stop buses driving through the area were first created several years ago, but the municipality wanted to wait until the cinema was completed first before committing to any long term alterations.
Ton Eijer, who owns the Scooters café on the street and is representing the interests of the local business owners, told Omrop Fryslân that he and his fellow entrepreneurs want to use more space to create outdoor seating, which would enable them to open earlier in the day.
Once the Pathe theatre is complete, the street will likely see a surge in foot fall, and the surrounding cafes and restaurants see an opportunity to get in on the action. The business owners say that the current bus route not only make the area less appealing for outdoor seating, but occasionally poses a risk to unsuspecting club-goers who may walk into the path of the oncoming buses.
The municipality intends to share more concrete plans about the future of public transport on the street after the summer, but the transport tender for the buses will run until 2022. The political representatives are in favour of making the city centre more attractive to visitors, but do not want that to come at the expense of accessibility.
Photo source: Wikipedia
