Every day tens of thousands of people – employees, students, visitors and patients – visit these sites. To this end the Flemish Minister for Mobility will invest a total of 15.5 million euros over the next three years. The protocol agreement was signed by all stakeholders on 25 April 2019 at the Gasthuisberg campus.
Second bus stop ring road south
Between 2020 and 2023 the focus will be on developing a seamless public transport flow to and from the Gasthuisberg campus, Imec and the Arenberg Science Park. The Gasthuisberg campus, in addition to Leuven station, will be developed into an important multimodal transport intersection and a second bus stop will be installed alongside the ring road south on the campus.
Less pressure on Leuven city centre
Buses will run every 10 minutes in both directions (to and from Leuven station). De Lijn is investigating whether this could be achieved with articulated, high capacity buses, always via the Leuven city ring road. Ring bus 2.0 is consequently taking shape. This will make it possible to remove a number of bus connections from the centre of Leuven.
The Flemish Government and city of Leuven are currently looking at how the Gasthuisberg campus, Imec and Arenberg Science Park will actually be connected via public transport, in combination with the installation of the necessary mobi points that offer users a wide range of different transport options.
This investment turns Gasthuisberg and the Arenberg/Imec Science Park into genuine transport intersections or public transport hubs.Ben Weyts - Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works
Seamless connections
The Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Ben Weyts, commented: “This investment turns Gasthuisberg and the Arenberg/Imec Science Park into genuine transport intersections or public transport hubs. People in the wider region will be able to travel by bus, quickly and comfortably, and benefit from seamless connections. You will only manage to get lots of people to leave their cars behind providing what’s on offer is fast and reliable, and it is easy to change from one means of transport to another. That is why we are also investing in bus lanes and appropriate road layouts.”
The signing of the protocol agreement also signifies the start of the implementation of the corresponding designs for the new road on the south side of the Gasthuisberg campus. Construction work is expected to start at the earliest in the summer of 2020. Measures will be put in place to ensure that the campus remains easily accessible throughout the operations.